China affirms commitment to responsible water resource management

China will proactively participate in the upcoming United Nations Water Conference as it strives to make more contributions to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, said Li Guoying, minister of water resources.

He made the remarks on Friday when meeting in Beijing with Csaba Korosi, president of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, according to a media release from the ministry.

The UN official is on a four-day trip to China that started on Wednesday.

Formally known as the 2023 Conference for the Midterm Comprehensive Review of Implementation of the UN Decade for Action on Water and Sanitation (2018-2028), the UN Water Conference will take place at UN Headquarters in New York from March 22 to 24. The conference will be co-hosted by Tajikistan and the Netherlands.

Li noted a series of achievements China has made in water resources management as it endeavors to cope with a higher frequency of floods and drought.

Aside from establishing flood control systems in different major river basins, China has seen remarkable progress in addressing water supply difficulties in rural areas and developing irrigation systems, he said.

With almost 8.3 million rural water supply projects constructed, the country has managed to ensure 87 percent of its rural population access to tap water.

China has built 7,330 large and medium-sized irrigated areas which cover a total of more than 69 million hectares or 54 percent of the country's total farmlands, he said. These irrigated areas contributed to 75 percent of China' grain output and 90 percent of its cash crops.

The minister said China has constructed 129 major water diversion projects to meet water resource demand in different regions.

With rich, long communication and cooperation with different UN bodies, he said, the ministry looks forward to seeing more in-depth communication and intensified cooperation with these bodies as it joins with countries and regions to cope with increasingly grim challenges the world faces in water resource management.

Korosi expressed his sincere admiration for China's experience in water resource governance, according to the release from the ministry.

Amid multiple crises, the world urgently needs revolutionary solutions to help address challenges in sustainable utilization of water resources, he was quoted as saying.

Korosi added he looks forward to seeing China play a guiding role in the UN Water Conference and make proactive contributions to the construction of a global system for water resources information.

He also expects China to play a key role in promoting sustainable utilization of water resources around the globe.

On Friday, Korosi also met Huang Runqiu, minister of ecology and environment. The duo had in-depth exchanges on several topics, including biodiversity conservation, climate change and the UN 2030 Agenda.