NanoH2O Inc, a California-based seawater desalination membrane manufacturer, announced plans to build a facility in eastern China on Monday.

The facility, located in Liyang, Jiangsu, 250 kilometers west of Shanghai, will involve an investment of $45 million and it will start operations in 2014.

The company's reverse osmosis membranes use nanotechnology to lower the cost of desalination by up to 25 percent.

"This is the first venture for our company in China," said Jeff Green, chief executive officer and chairman of NanoH2O. "We look forward to bringing the next generation of energy efficient reverse osmosis membranes to China and other strategic markets across the globe."

The company has installed more than 100 sets of reserves osmosis membrane in Spain, Israel, Chile and other countries in the past two years, producing 250,000 tons of fresh water per day.

China, which represents one-fifth of the world's population with only 6 percent of the global fresh water supply, is ready to tap into the seawater desalination to ease its water shortage.