On September 11, the XVIII World Water Congress kicked off in Beijing under the theme “Water for All: Harmony between Humans and Nature”. The event drew nearly 1300 delegates from more than 60 countries and regions, as well as over 30 international organizations to discuss solutions for water management and explore opportunities for cooperation and development.
The World Water Congress is one of the most influential academic gatherings in the field of international water resources, attracting a wide range of participants. It serves as an important platform for international exchanges on water-related agendas, policies and sciences. Since 1973, this event has been held 17 times, facilitating the research in water sciences, expediting the sharing of research results and policies, and promoting cooperation and exchanges in water conservancy.
This is the first time for China to hold the World Water Congress. The Congress this year features a range of programs, including four high-level plenary sessions, as well as multiple regular sessions, special sessions and side events.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Li Guoying, Minister of Water Resources said that China’s basic water regime has historically been characterized by highly uneven distribution of water resources both in terms of time and space, with frequent floods in the summer and droughts in the winter, and water scarcity in the north and abundance in the south. Therefore, preventing water disasters and promoting water conservancy projects have always been a priority in securing China’s long-term stability and development. President Xi Jinping creatively proposed a water governance guideline that prioritizes water conservation, coordinates development with water resources, emphasizes systemic governance, and lets both the government and market play their respective roles. This guideline provides convincing answers to the major theoretical and practical challenges in water governance, laying the foundation for the overall planning of water disaster prevention, water resource conservation, water ecosystem protection and restoration, and water environment management. Guided by these fundamentals, China has achieved historic success and made unprecedented progress in its water governance, finding solutions to many long-standing and unsolved problems. The use and allocation of water resources has undergone profound adjustment and improvement, and the conditions of rivers and lakes have improved through systematic advancements in water conservancy projects. These efforts have helped China make significant progress in striving for the water-related goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Li Guoying noted that the Ministry of Water Resources will unswervingly implement the guideline put forward by President Xi Jinping. The Ministry stands ready to work with the international community to advance the reform and development of global water governance, promote the harmonious coexistence of man and nature, and jointly write a new chapter in water governance in the building of a community with a shared future for mankind.
Liu Yuhui, Deputy Mayor of Beijing, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech.
