PURPOSE: To improve the dewatering efficiency of wet paper by using a fabric and a belt having mutually intermeshing protrusions and recesses and passing the fabric and belt through a pressing part together with the wet paper.

CONSTITUTION: A wet paper S is dewatered by laminating the wet paper S, a felt 5, a fabric 6 and a belt 7 in the order and passing the laminate through a pressing part P between a press roll 2 and a press shoe 3. In the above process, the fabric 6 and the belt 7 have mutually intermeshing woven texture. Preferably, the mutually contacting faces of the fabric 6 and the belt 7 are woven by alternately arranging thick wefts and thin wefts interposing prescribed spaces.