An article by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, on promoting the high-quality development of China's marine economy was published on Monday in this year's sixth issue of Qiushi Journal, the flagship magazine of the CPC Central Committee.
The article stresses the importance of accelerating breakthroughs in key marine technologies and developing emerging marine industries while balancing development with marine ecological protection. Against this backdrop, seawater desalination is gaining increasing attention as China expands the utilization of ocean resources.
A seawater desalination plant in Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, east China, September 1, 2025. (Photo: VCG)
China's marine economy maintained steady growth in 2025. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, the country's gross ocean product rose 5.5% year on year to nearly 11.02 trillion yuan (about $1.6 trillion), accounting for 7.9% of its GDP.
Seawater desalination has been highlighted as one of the emerging sectors with strong potential. China's national development blueprint for the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030) calls for strengthening the development, utilization and protection of marine resources, including expanding industries such as desalination.
Experts say that as climate change intensifies, water shortages are becoming a common challenge for many coastal cities around the world. Desalination is increasingly seen as a reliable solution for ensuring water supply security.
Unlike rainfall-dependent freshwater sources, the ocean provides a stable and virtually inexhaustible resource. Desalination technology, hardly affected by climate variability, is now supplying water for both industrial production and daily life in coastal regions.
China has made notable progress in developing its own desalination technologies and equipment in recent years. In the northern municipality of Tianjin, the country's first fully domestically developed desalination production line with a daily capacity of 30,000 tonnes has been operating steadily.
By the end of 2025, China's total desalination capacity had exceeded 2.9 million tonnes per day. The industry's annual added value has surpassed 34.2 billion yuan, evolving from a strategic reserve technology into a growing driver of the marine economy.
Looking ahead, experts say further development of the sector will require stronger policy coordination and broader application. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, desalination is expected to expand in water-scarce coastal cities, islands and industrial parks.
They also stress the importance of strengthening fundamental research and advancing original innovation to accelerate the upgrading of domestically developed desalination technologies and equipment.