FRENCH firm SUEZ Group expects sales in China will grow 30 percent this year, fueled by the nation's growing needs for cleaner drinking water, company officials said yesterday as a massive Shanghai project was unveiled.

The company expects to win two contracts for water plants, and "hopefully" add a sewerage project to its portfolio on the mainland, said Steve Clark, executive director of Sino French Water Development Co, a subsidiary of SUEZ.

The water contracts are likely to come from Jiangsu Province, Beijing or Chongqing, he said. Their planned bidding for Shanghai's largest waterworks is at a standstill as the project has been suspended.

The company inaugurated a hazardous waste treatment facility with an investment of 53 million euros (US$72.98m) in suburban Shanghai yesterday.

The incineration plant, the largest of its kind in China with an annual capacity of 60,000 tons, is expected to generate sales of 20 million euros a year from treating waste from the local chemical plants of BASF and Bayer as well as selling them steam, produced from burning the waste.

SUEZ, the world's leading environmental service provider, operates 21 joint ventures in China in 16 cities, providing drinking water and sewage-treatment service to more than 13.5 million residents.

Sales of SUEZ were about US$300 million in China last year, which is still a small proportion of global sales that reached 44.3 billion euros last year.

It is still cautious towards energy projects in China as officials are concerned about energy laws that do not guarantee stable returns, said Clark.

Since last year the company has failed in two takeover bids for France-based Veolia Water, one of the world's largest water suppliers.

Veolia has doubled its sale price each time.