Recently, the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water, and Agriculture and the Urban Water Pollution Control Engineering Technology Application Center of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development conducted a special in-depth exchange and negotiation on the joint construction of the innovation center. The conference was led by Essam Mohammed Fallatah, the water affairs official in charge of the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture, and attended by personnel from relevant water departments in Saudi Arabia. The Chinese side, led by Wu Guoqing, Deputy Director of the Water Center of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development, went to Saudi Arabia with a professional technical and management team to participate in exchanges and docking. Both parties have reached a consensus on the construction method, functions, tasks, and other matters of the innovation center.

Top level design anchors the new coordinates of China Saudi Arabia cooperation

The proposed innovation center is a core think tank platform in the field of water ecology at the national level in Saudi Arabia. It is jointly led by the Saudi Water Authority and the Water Center of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development, and is positioned to serve Saudi Arabia's national water ecological security strategy, providing professional technical support and think tank support for various water decision-making and industry planning of the Saudi Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture.

The Innovation Center focuses on three core areas: water production, water conservation, and water sediment management. Its core functions cover talent cultivation, industry standard formulation, water project planning, core technology research and development, demonstration project implementation, and water industry chain cultivation. Relying on the resource advantages of both China and Saudi Arabia, the Innovation Center will deeply draw on China's mature experience in water governance, advanced core technologies, and professional talent system, and systematically assist Saudi Arabia in building a modern development system in the field of water ecology that is technologically controllable, talent self-sufficient, and management independent.

During the operation period, the innovation center will be jointly operated by Chinese experts and a professional team from Saudi Arabia, to establish a normalized and specialized platform for communication and exchange between Chinese and Saudi water enterprises and institutions, and to open up channels for technological exchange, project cooperation, and industrial linkage. This is not only a collaborative project, but also an important support platform for Saudi Arabia to achieve its core goals of knowledge economy, industrial localization, talent development, technological innovation, and sustainable resource management in the 2030 vision. The project will not only serve major water projects in Saudi Arabia, but also radiate to the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Middle East, North Africa and even countries along the the Belt and Road. As the joint leader, the Water Center of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development plays a role not as a project contractor, but as a system exporter of standards, technology, and talent. This is a key signal for the upgrading of China Saudi Arabia water cooperation.

Chinese companies have submitted their answers in Saudi Arabia

Before reaching a consensus on the innovation center, Chinese companies had already blossomed in multiple locations in the Saudi water market, laying a solid industrial foundation for top-level cooperation.

In January 2026, the joint venture led by United Water won the bid for the 10th package of the long-term operation contract for municipal sewage of Saudi National Water Company, covering nine sewage treatment plants in eight cities and four provinces in northern Saudi Arabia, with a total investment of about 378 million yuan and a cooperation period of 15 years. The first three years are a period of continuous repair and renovation, and the project company is wholly owned by the winning bidder. This is the first Middle East water project led by a Chinese enterprise responsible for core investment, financing, design, and operation. United Water has previously operated the Purbachal New City Water Supply PPP project in Dhaka, Bangladesh, serving approximately 2 million residents. The successful bid for the Saudi project marks its international expansion from the Indochina Peninsula to the Middle East.

China Power Construction Corporation has shown outstanding performance in the field of seawater desalination in Saudi Arabia. The Rabigh Phase IV seawater desalination project, which it undertook, officially received the owner's handover certificate in 2026 and has fully entered the quality assurance stage. The project's measured electricity consumption per ton of water was as low as 2.712 kilowatt hours, once again setting a new record for the lowest electricity consumption in the global seawater desalination industry. China Power Construction Corporation has previously completed multiple seawater desalination projects in Saudi Arabia through EPC, including Rabigh Phase III, Jubail Phase II, 3A, and 3B. Rabigh Phase III is the world's largest single unit reverse osmosis seawater desalination project, with a daily output of 600000 cubic meters. In addition, the Saudi Arabia Jaffa seawater desalination project undertaken by China Electric Power Construction was awarded the Outstanding Industrial Water Project of the Year in the 2026 Global Water Awards.

In January 2026, Lingzhi Equipment won a large order for integrated water treatment equipment in the Middle East through multiple rounds of technical and business evaluations in the bidding process for the Saudi and Kuwaiti Public Affairs Bureau project. This is the first time that a Chinese water treatment company has directly defeated a global leader in the high-end Middle East market with its technological strength. In February of the same year, Lingzhi Equipment signed a $17 million integrated water treatment equipment supply contract with Kuwait.

System output opens a new stage of cooperation between China and Saudi Arabia

The multiple breakthroughs at the enterprise level are driven by higher-level strategic factors. In June 2026, Assistant Minister of Commerce Zhang Li met with Chairman Abunaan of Saudi International Power and Water Company, and both sides clarified their intention to continue deepening cooperation in areas such as new energy, electricity, and seawater desalination. In the same month, Wan Jinsong, Deputy Director of the National Energy Administration, met with Abunyang in Beijing and exchanged in-depth views on China Saudi Arabia clean energy cooperation. When Xu Kunlin, governor of Liaoning Province, and Wang Xinwei met with Abu Nayan, ACWA Power made it clear that it would closely link China's the Belt and Road initiative with Saudi Arabia's 2030 vision, and take Liaoning as a key area of the layout bureau in China.

Saudi Arabia's 2030 Vision has set ambitious goals for the water sector: to invest over $100 billion in water infrastructure construction within the next decade, and to meet 90% of the country's water needs through desalinated water by 2030. ACWA Power's current seawater desalination capacity has reached 9.5 million cubic meters per day, and is expected to exceed 12 million cubic meters per day by 2027. The level of technological research and development is also deepening. In January 2026, the Tianjin Zhongsha Seawater Desalination Technology Innovation Joint Laboratory signed a contract, focusing on energy-saving desalination and intelligent operation and maintenance technology research and development. Keywords: Construction News、Construction machinery

From think tank platforms to engineering projects, from equipment exports to joint research and development, China Saudi Arabia Water Cooperation is completing a transition from single point breakthroughs to systematic output. Chinese companies are no longer just builders, but are becoming providers of technical solutions, participants in standard setting, and long-term operational service providers for Saudi Arabia's water ecological governance. As the joint leader of the Saudi Water Ecological Technology Application Innovation Center, the Water Center of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Rural Development will continue to support the deep implementation of Sino Saudi water cooperation in standard interoperability, technical verification, and talent cultivation. In the next decade, the Chinese power in the Middle East water market has just begun to exert its influence.Editor/Gao Xue