2015 Qingdao International Conference on Desalination and Water Reuse kicked off on Tuesday in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province. [iqilu.com]

2015 Qingdao International Conference on Desalination and Water Reuse kicked off on Tuesday in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province.

Themed with 'Desalination: Innovation Driven and Green Development,' the three-day event attracted over 700 experts, scholars, and entrepreneurs from 20 countries and regions.

It is sponsored by the China Association for Science and Technology and the Qingdao municipal people's government.

Qingdao has hosted the international conference nine times and this year's event consists of 20 sessions on 15 subjects, including development of China's water purification industry, innovation and development of seawater desalination technology.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Zhang Qin, vice-president of the China Association for Science and Technology, said the water resources shortage is quite severe in China, and 111 sea water desalination projects had been completed by the end of 2014, with daily capacity of desalinated water reaching 924,800 tons.