Environmental firms eye opportunities on Belt and Road

An increasing number of Chinese environmental protection enterprises are taking advantage of the Belt and Road Initiative expand abroad through the use of public-private-partnerships (PPP).

So far forty-four environmental protection enterprises have signed 149 contract orders in 54 countries. Over 60 percent of the orders are in the countries along the Belt and Road routes, according to the E20 Institute of Environment Industry.

Xiao Qiong, assistant director of the institute, commented that: "China's environmental industry is influenced by internationalization, the internet, capitalization and ecological revolution, among which the influence of internationalization is most obvious. The Belt and Road Initiative opens the global market to the Chinese environmental protection industry."

Statistics show that over half of contract orders are related to water treatment, followed by solid waste processing. 60 percent of the Chinese environmental enterprises' acquisitions are in Europe, and 93 percent of the PPP projects, 76 percent of the engineering services and 63 percent of equipment supplies are in the countries along the Belt and Road routes. 

The National Bureau of Statistics shows China's direct investment in water conservancy, environmental protection and public facility administration accounts for less than 1 percent of its total FDI.

Last year, China's investment in environment related industries in the countries along the Belt and Road routes stood at 1.57 billion yuan (US$238 million).

The institute estimates that the global environmental market is valued at around 7.5 trillion, among which China accounts for about 15 percent.