Suez, the largest French environmental industry group, will double its investment in China in the next two years.

The remark was made by Michel Detay, president for Asian-Pacific Operations with Suez in Shanghai on Wednesday.

He said the decision was made in the light of the growing demand for deep treatment of drinking water, as well as of waste water and discarded materials in China.

According to Mr. Detay, Suez has invested more than 5.2 billion yuan (about 641 million U.S. dollars) in China. The French conglomerate decided to move its Asian and Pacific regional headquarters to Shanghai earlier this year.

He said his parent group showed great interest in Shanghai's urban plan about improving the quality of tap water and enormously raising the treatment ratio of sewage water and had actually been participating in the expansion at two water plants in the city with its sophisticated technologies.

Suez Group has so far operated 19 joint ventures in 16 Chinese cities. Its investment in Shanghai alone has reached 700 million yuan. The French group has also signed contracts for designing and building 160 water plants across China.

Source: Xinhua