Session attendees say government measures have brought achievements

Executives from international organizations have spoken highly of China's achievements in water resources management as they attended the 18th World Water Congress, saying "China is an example of innovative and proactive water policy".

They made the remarks at the China Special Session: Chinese Water Practices and Global Water Governance, which was held on the sidelines of the congress in Beijing on Tuesday.

Siddharth Chatterjee, United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, quoted one of the four proposals made by Li Guoying, China's minister of water resources, at the 2023 UN Water Conference in New York in March in his opening speech to the session.

"We should respect the right of rivers to survive in nature, treat water as living entities, develop river ethics, protect rivers' healthy life and achieve a harmonious coexistence between human and river," he quoted Li as saying.

As he found when traveling in the country, he said, "there is incremental harmony that I've witnessed firsthand between man and nature in different parts of China".

By 2050, an estimated 6 billion people will face water scarcity due to climate change, pollution, increasingly unsustainable consumption and production, he said.

"These facts require us to take urgent action to change our water usage, recycling and storage in order to ensure sufficient water remains available to people around the world," he stressed.

Addressing the China Special Session, Loic Fauchon, president of the World Water Council, highlighted China's significant contribution in promoting water security for the benefit of all populations.

Thanks to a 210 billion yuan ($28.8 billion) program for rural water supply projects between 2016 and 2020, tens of millions of people in China have seen their access to water improve, and today over 90 percent of the Chinese population has direct access to drinking water, he said.

Since 2021, China has amplified this effort through a national plan for rural water supply security, he continued.

"This remarkable progress has been facilitated by the measures you have taken in terms of governance and management, through the management responsibility system for rural drinking water safety," he said.

"More simply, you have emphasized the responsibility of local governments. What I would call a true deconcentration or decentralization of water governance, by including the full participation of water users in the entity process, giving the right to information, participation and supervision to water users," he noted.

"China is an example of innovative and proactive water policy, and we are delighted that this example is being followed by many countries," he added.

Themed "Water for All: Harmony between Humans and Nature", the 18th World Water Congress kicked off in Beijing on Monday and the gathering will last till Friday.