Speaking at a business forum on the Chinese water market at the ongoing Singapore International Water Week, Shao Yisheng, vice dean of China Urban Planning and Design Institute, said China has about 4,000 water plants but the technologies used at most of the plants were not advanced. The investment in water facilities in Chinese cities from 2011 to 2015 is estimated to be no less than 77.4 billion to 92.8 billion U.S. dollars, a senior expert from China's Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said here on Wednesday. The quality of the source water at less than half of these plants were up to the national standards, making it all the more challenge for the treatment, he added. The water pipe system calls for improvement, too, with over 6 billion cubic meters of water lost as a result of leaks.

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