IE expo China is set to return to Shanghai from April 13 to 15, 2026. The international trade fair for environmental technologies offers a wide range of business opportunities in China and the wider Asian region—such as in the trending field of water and wastewater management.
The annual IE expo China is considered Asia’s largest environmental technology trade fair. This year’s edition will take place from April 13 to 15, 2026 at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC). Among the largest exhibition areas by number of exhibitors and floor space have always been proven and innovative solutions for water and wastewater management. This segment is characterized by continued strong momentum: analysts at market research firm Mordor Intelligence predict that the Chinese water and wastewater treatment market will grow from an estimated $16 billion in 2025 to nearly $24 billion in 2030.
This growth is being driven by rapid urbanization and industrialization in China, fueling demand for clean water and efficient treatment systems. With industrial production traditionally concentrated in the coastal provinces of eastern China, there is now a growing shift toward inland regions, leading to a significant increase in demand for industrial wastewater treatment, particularly in the central and western regions.
Committed to zero liquid discharge
Increasing water scarcity is pushing the market for circular economy solutions in the People’s Republic. Strict environmental regulations and ambitious targets are triggering significant investments in high-end technologies in this context. One example is the Chinese regulations on zero liquid discharge (ZLD). They require thousands of chemical, pharmaceutical, and textile companies in the country to recover at least 95 % of their process water—otherwise, they face heavy fines. Technology-wise, ZLD uses sophisticated, highly integrated process chains with specialized membrane tech, energy- efficient evaporation, precise crystallization, and digital operation. By the way: India, one of the main visitor countries at IE expo China, is also promoting the use of ZDL on a massive scale through strict regulations, supported by subsidy programs and infrastructure investments.
PPP for water infrastructure projects
In China, funding is also available: the People’s Republic allocated the equivalent of $75 billion for water infrastructure in its 14th Five-Year Plan (2021–2025), with 60 percent of this earmarked for public-private partnership (PPP) models. While the final text of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026–2030) has yet to be released, it is expected that the environment and water sector will remain among the political priorities. Furthermore, it is likely that a suitable framework will once again be created for cooperative models such as PPPs.
World’s largest market for smart water solutions
Some of the main projects implemented by PPP in China include smart water projects. The term describes the fully digitalized control of the entire urban and industrial water cycle: from water extraction, treatment distribution and consumption to wastewater treatment, water reuse and ecological monitoring. Total investment in this area in China amounted to approximately $8.1 billion in 2024 and is expected to rise to around $19.2 billion by 2029—making the country the world’s largest smart water market. Sensors, digital twins, AI controls, digital leak detection, remote meter reading, and dynamic tariffs are among the core technological components of this government-prioritized infrastructure megatrend. Smart Water is China’s lever for massively reducing water losses, making ZLD economically viable and PPP projects bankable, operating water cycles on a large scale, and reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
Visitors from emerging Asian markets
IE expo China not only offers national and international exhibitors an opportunity to showcase their products and services to the huge, rapidly growing Chinese market; water management is also set to grow in other Asian countries visiting the exhibition. This year’s trade fair will once again be accompanied by technical and scientific conferences and forums presenting and discussing current trends, challenges, and best-practice solutions.
Further information can be found at ie-expo.com