Sources from the Reform and Development Commission of Qingdao claimed on May 7th that Qingdao would portray itself as a national model city for sea water-desalination.

According to the people in charge from the High Technology Industry Office of the Reform and Development Commission of Qingdao, the plan for Qingdao's sea water desalination equipment manufacturing industry has passed the appraisal stage and expert inspection. It is estimated that the value of the market-oriented, innovation-motivated and self-reliant desalination equipment manufacturing industry will amount to two billion RMB by 2015, taking up a quarter of the native desalination market shares.

Qingdao was able to desalinate 31 thousand cubic meters of sea water per day by 2012, a 5.2% proportion of the nationwide output at that time, along with the equipment manufacturing industry worth half a billion RMB by that same year.

Qingdao has a solid basis and first mover advantages for the sea water-desalination industry, considering its more than ten institutions relating to desalination and over 20 patents at that front.