This compares to only 180,000 MW in the US, according to a plant-by-plant analysis by the McIlvaine Chinese Utility Plans database.

The McIlvaine research also shows that China is operating 379,000 MW of scrubbers compared to only 130,000 MW in the US. China has these FGD scrubbers on 67% of its coal-fired plants which is a higher percentage than in the US. China is also the largest supplier of many types of air pollution control equipment and several Chinese companies are the world's leading suppliers of electrostatic precipitators. According to McIlvaine, in recent years, suppliers of FGD systems have grown rapidly and ten of these companies are among the 20 largest FGD companies in the world.

China is the world's largest cement and steel maker. The McIlvaine report adds that its air pollution investments in these industries are significant and growing. China has embraced the waste-to-energy concept for dealing with municipal garbage and has recently spent more on air pollution equipment for these plants than has the US. Despite a temporary slowdown, the Chinese economy is now gaining momentum. This is in contrast to Europe and the US where the recession continues, adds McIlvaine.

The relative size of the Chinese market for each equipment type is included in separate world market reports on fabric filters, electrostatic precipitators, NO_x control, air monitoring and FGD.