E Jingping attended the 7th annual high level dialogue meeting of China EU water resources exchange platform and signed the jimarans declaration

Source: China water resources website

         From November 6 to 8, 2019, the seventh annual high level dialogue meeting of China EU water resources exchange platform was held in jimarans, Portugal. The theme of the dialogue was "water conservancy innovation", sharing water control experience and discussing mutually beneficial cooperation around issues such as river and lake protection. Minister of water resources e Jingping and Minister of environment and climate action Fernandez of Portugal attended the dialogue and delivered keynote speeches, while mayor of jimarance Blanca delivered a welcome speech. 

         At the meeting, e Jingping and representatives of relevant countries jointly signed the jimarans declaration and unveiled the Chinese version of the European Union's ecological flow technical guide. 

         In his keynote speech, e Jingping pointed out that in the new era, China is changing from high-speed development to high-quality development, and adheres to the road of harmonious development between man and nature. President Xi Jinping clearly put forward the idea of "water saving priority, space balance, system management, and two hands". Recently, we made important arrangements for the watershed protection and high quality development of the mother river of the Chinese nation in the Yellow River. China's Ministry of water resources has actively changed its concept, launched innovative policies on river protection and management, comprehensively strengthened the supervision of river resources, and gradually realized the historical change from extensive to fine. First, we should take the benefit of the people as the core goal and make rivers a "happy river" for the benefit of the people. This is the starting point and the foothold of river basin protection and management in China. Second, the first principle is to save water, so that water conservation really becomes the precondition of water resources development, utilization, protection, allocation and scheduling, forming a water-saving production and life style. Third, we should take rational water distribution as the basis of management, make clear the total control index of regional water consumption and the water distribution index of river basins, determine the ecological flow of rivers and lakes in China, and strictly control the development intensity of river and lake water resources. Fourth, water resources should be regarded as the most rigid constraint, unreasonable water demand should be restrained, and an all-weather water monitoring system should be built to ensure that economic and social development does not exceed the carrying capacity of water resources, water ecology and water environment. Fifthly, we should take river and lake management as a key task, regulate the behaviors of occupying and destroying rivers and lakes, and comprehensively supervise the "basin of water" and "water in the basin". 

          E Jingping pointed out that exchanges and cooperation in the field of water resources have always been an important part of China EU exchanges and cooperation, and strengthening water resources cooperation between China and the EU will play a positive role in the cause of world water control. He put forward four suggestions for future cooperation between the two sides: exchange water control ideas, improve water control policies; expand scientific and technological cooperation, improve innovation capacity; strengthen personnel exchanges, promote mutual learning and mutual learning; promote business cooperation and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.     

           Fernandez pointed out in the keynote speech that the European Secretariat of the China EU water resources exchange platform will be located in Portugal in the next two years, which is Portugal's firm commitment to global water cooperation and a strong desire to form partnership with China. It is hoped that China and the EU will strengthen their partnership and work together to contribute to the global realization of the 2030 water related sustainable development goal. 

           According to the jimarans declaration, China and the EU will, through policy, science and technology, business and other channels of cooperation, achieve innovation in water pollution prevention and control, ecological flow of maintaining ecosystem health, water saving and water efficiency in water cycle, smart water conservancy, modern water affairs, upgrading and upgrading of aging water conservancy infrastructure, and contribute Chinese and European experience to global water governance. 

         On the same day of the meeting, e Jingping met respectively with Fernandez, Minister of energy and water management of Malta Miz, Deputy Minister of agriculture and forestry of Finland Husu kario, etc. to further exchange views on carrying out in-depth cooperation.

          The meeting was jointly organized by the Ministry of environment and climate action of Portugal, the Ministry of water resources of China, the General Department of environment of the European Commission and the municipal government of jimarais. More than 200 representatives of government departments, scientific research institutions and water conservancy enterprises from more than a dozen countries attended the dialogue.