Groundbreaking of Sembcorp's water technologies hub in Nanjing, China

SEMBCORP Industries held a groundbreaking ceremony for its wholly-owned project, Nanjing International Water Hub (NIWH), in Nanjing city's new central business district of Jianye in Jiangsu province on Wednesday.

The project, targeted to be completed in 2018, is a 34,183-square metre development located on the Sino-Singapore Nanjing Eco Hitech Island and is designed to host research facilities and conference space to facilitate the development and commercialisation of new water technologies.

In a statement, Sembcorp Industries said a unique feature of the water hub is the Water Technology Innovation Centre - a centre which supports performance tests on emerging water technologies in clinical settings and in the field.

Sembcorp will also grant third party water technology developers access to its water facilities across China to test-bed their technologies.

NIWH also signed three memoranda of understanding (MOUs) at the event - the first two with Singapore's Public Utilities Board (PUB) and National University of Singapore's Centre for Water Research and another with Sembcorp's wholly-owned Sembcorp (China) Holding.

The ceremony was witnessed by Liu Yi'an, Nanjing Executive Vice-Mayor and Member of the Nanjing Municipal Standing Committee, and Teo Ser Luck, Singapore's Minister of State for Manpower.