French utilities provider Suez Environment is targeting two municipal water management contracts every year in China as part of an aggressive expansion strategy, the Financial Times reported. Suez has won four full-service water contracts for Chinese cities since the market was opened up in 2002 and, prior to that, had built around 160 joint venture water treatment plants across the country. It has recently been named as the preferred bidder of a US$1 billion, 30-year contract for the city of Changshu, near Shanghai. The company hopes to win a large slice of the US$150 billion China plans to spend on water management projects over the next decade. The country suffers from severe water shortages in the north while existing water resources are frequently mismanaged or contaminated.