By committing to a people-centered approach and obeying the laws of nature, China has made remarkable achievements in water resource management in the past 10 years and supported consistent economic growth with stable water consumption.
▲Part of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project runs through Nanyang, Henan province. [Photo/Xinhua]
Through rich exchanges and cooperation
with United Nations agencies and countries involved in the Belt and Road
Initiative, China has also made positive contributions to promoting the
water-related goals of the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
and the socioeconomic development of BRI countries.
Li Guoying, minister of water resources, made the remarks in an exclusive interview with China Daily ahead of the UN 2023 Water Conference, a three-day gathering in New York that will start on Wednesday, which is World Water Day.
China has seen consistent improvements in its capacity to conserve water and enhance the efficiency of water usage, he emphasized.
With annual total water consumption controlled within 610 billion cubic meters, China has managed to support an average annual economic growth rate of about 6 percent, the minister said.
"The overall national water usage efficiency is on par with the world average level, with some regions such as Beijing and Tianjin municipalities already reaching an internationally advanced level," he added.
Li also highlighted achievements that China has made in optimizing the allocation of water resources, enhancing environmental conservation and addressing water supply difficulties in rural areas.
Supported by a large number of major water diversion projects, the annual supply capacity of water resource management facilities across the country has exceeded 890 billion cubic meters, he said.
Thanks to a series of government support measures to beef up the rural water supply, including those involving investment and personnel training, 87 percent of the country's rural population had access to tap water as of the end of last year, up 11 percentage points from 2015, Li noted.
"According to data from the United Nations children's fund and the World Health Organization, China's rural water supply is leading among developing countries," the minister said.
The achievements were made because the Chinese government always regards the people's aspirations to live a better life as its goal and spares no effort to solve water-related problems that people are most concerned about, he emphasized.
By comprehensively implementing the new development philosophy, China has striven to properly handle the relationship between development and protection, and to promote the realization of harmonious coexistence between humans and water, he said.
Li also underscored China's great efforts to ramp up international cooperation on water resource management and the significant achievements the country has made in doing so.
Such efforts have helped to improve people's livelihoods in BRI countries, he said. For example, the Lancang-Mekong Sweet Spring Project, which China launched in 2020, has addressed the difficulties that around 7,000 people in Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar have faced in getting safe drinking water.
▲A volunteer demonstrates an experiment to measure the pH level of water during an event at a primary school in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province, on Monday, ahead of World Water Day. SHI YUCHENG/FOR CHINA DAILY
Chinese companies have participated in the construction of a number of water resource management projects in BRI countries, injecting new impetus into local economic development, he added.
For instance, Ecuador, thanks to the
China-built Coca Codo Sinclair Dam hydroelectric project, which went
into operation in 2016, no longer depends on imported energy, Li said.
In Guinea, the China-constructed Kaleta Hydropower Station, which was
commissioned in 2015, has greatly relieved the power shortage in the
country's capital, Conakry, and surrounding areas, benefiting 4 million
residents.
China has also carried out in-depth training for countries with relatively weak capabilities in water resource management in Asia, Africa and Latin America, he said. To date, online and offline training has been provided for nearly 4,000 water resource management technicians and government officials from 112 countries.
In addition, China has established five overseas technology transfer and capacity building centers in Pakistan, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Serbia and Senegal, the minister said.
To promote high-standard, sustainable and people-centered growth in BRI countries, the Ministry of Water Resources will make further efforts to enhance cooperation with nations involved in the initiative, Li said.
The minister said that China has proactively made use of the UN's multilateral cooperation platforms to share with the world its experiences and technologies on water resource management.
The Ministry of Water Resources has conducted extensive cooperation with more than 10 UN bodies, including UNICEF, the Development Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organization in many areas, such as sustainable water resource management, rural drinking water supply, water-saving irrigation and the conservation of water and soil, he noted.
Li also highlighted the International Network on Small Hydro Power, which was established in 1994 following a joint initiative of China, the UN's Industrial Development Organization and the Development Programme.
With more than 480 members from 80 countries and regions, the network has established three regional centers in Asia, Africa and South America, he said. It has rolled out international cooperation on rural energy supply, environmental protection and poverty relief, introducing China's experiences, wisdom and technologies to many developing states.
Looking to the future, the ministry will actively implement the Belt and Road Initiative and the Global Development Initiative through the UN multilateral platform, and work with countries and regions around the world to tackle increasingly severe water challenges, Li said.
"We will strive to make positive contributions to the transformation and development of the global water governance system with China's water management concepts, wisdom and experiences, and write a new chapter of harmony between humans and water for the world's joint endeavor to build a shared future for all life on Earth," he said.
记者：侯黎强