The 2013 Qingdao International Conference on Desalination and Water Reuse kicked off on June 26 in Qingdao in East China’s Shandong province.

Themed “Desalination: Innovation-Driven and Green Development”, the three-day event attracted hundreds of experts from 300 enterprises in 20 countries and regions.

Co-sponsored by the China Association for Science and Technology and the Qingdao Municipal People’s Government, Qingdao has hosted the event seven times.

This year’s event consists of 11 sessions on eight subjects including seawater desalination and reuse technology, water resources and urban development, alternative water resources management, and innovation and development of seawater desalination technology.

Glen Daigger, president of the International Water Association (IWA), attended the conference and delivered a speech on integrating urban water and resource management options to achieve system resilience.

“In the past, we used water in regular ways, but desalination is undoubtedly to be a trend to realize water reuse in the future,’’ said Glen. “Choices we make today may change the future, but the change is also a social and political process.”

Glen spoke highly of China’s breakthrough on key technology and application of water reuse, hoping to realize a win-win situation between economic development and environmental protection through international cooperation.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Qingdao Vice-Mayor Wang Guangzheng said the city will take the advantages of building a national-level marine science and technology city and accelerate establishing a modern industrial system featuring characteristics of marine resources, both high-end and new.

“We will try to achieve a new leap forward in building a core area of the Shandong Peninsula Blue Economic Zone and China’s Blue Silicon Valley here,” Wang said.