| ¡¡ Address by Vice-Minister
of Water Resources Suo Lisheng at the Opening Ceremony of the 29th IAHR
Congress ¡¡ Distinguished President Holly, The opening of the 29th
IAHR Congress in Beijing, China at the beginning of the new century is a very significant
event, for this congress has attracted so many world famous experts and scholars and will
discuss and exchange ideas about subjects of rational utilization of water resources,
water environment, water¨Crelated disasters, hydraulics of water works, and river mouths
and coasts, summarize successful experiences and deficiencies and look forward to the
challenging future, and will play an important role for the development of hydraulic
research both in China and the world. On behalf of the Ministry of Water Resources, P. R.
China, I wish to extend a warm welcome to all the more than 800 participants from more
than 50 countries and regions all over the world! And also I wish to extend admiration and
thanks to the efforts made by all of you in the field of hydraulic engineering and
research and its applications. Water is the source of life and
lifeblood for the survival and development of human beings and without water there would
be no human beings. Water is limited and is a natural resource that has no substitute.
With the continuous development and progress of the human beings¡¯ society, water has
become an increasingly precious resource of strategic significance, and water resources
issues and problems are concerned with the survival and development of human beings. As everyone knows, China is situated
in the Asian monsoon climate zone with uneven distribution of precipitation in time and
space, frequent occurrence of flood, waterlogging and drought disasters and scarcity of
water resources. The per capita volume of water resources in China is only 1/4 of the
world average. For thousands of years, the Chinese nation has made indomitable struggles
against water related disasters. Since the founding of the P. R. China, particularly, the
Chinese Government has led the whole nation to construct a large number of water projects
for flood control, farmland irrigation and drainage, water environment, hydropower
generation and river transportation, and made brilliant achievements attracting worldwide
attention. We not only have built more than 80000 reservoirs, but also are constructing
the well-known Three Gorges and Xiaolangdi projects, have preliminarily established a
flood control and disaster reduction system covering the whole country; the area of
irrigated farmlands has increased to 54.7 million ha, thus providing a guarantee for the
stable economic and social development. But, with the sustained and rapid economic
development in recent years, the problems of water shortage, frequently flooding and
deteriorating water environment have become more and more serious, and hence a stern
challenge to us in the new century. Those problems have caused widespread concerns in all
the social circles. After decade¡¯s years of practice of
water harnessing, Chinese government has recognized that, in order to solve water issues
and problems, we must change the traditional thinking for water harnessing, shift from the
project oriented towards the resource management oriented and from the traditional towards
the modern water resources undertakings, ensure sustainable economic and social
development with sustainable utilization of water resources, and realize the safeties of
water use, flood control, grain supply and eco-environment. In the China Agenda 21, the Chinese
Government puts the sustainable economic and social development among important strategic
goals. The sustainable utilization of water resources put forward by the Chinese
Government is a strategic issue for the economic and social development in China. In the
Outline of the 10th Five-year Plan for the Economic and Social Development in
the P. R. China, it is pointed out that water conservation technologies and measures of
various kinds should be extended comprehensively, with the enhancement of water use
efficiency at the core, to develop a water saving agriculture and establish a water saving
society; the bearing capacity of water resources should be fully considered in the
construction of cities and layout of industry and agriculture, and agricultural and urban
water saving should be intensified; planning and management should be strengthened,
rational allocation of water resources for the whole river basin should be well conducted
and water uses for domestic, production and ecological purposes should be coordinated;
artificial precipitation enhancement, wastewater treatment and reuse and sea water
desalinization should be actively conducted; groundwater resources should be rationally
used and overdraft should be put under strict control; the reform of water management
system should be strengthened to establish a rational managerial system and rational
mechanism of water pricing. The change of thinking for water
harnessing and the huge challenges facing water resources undertakings provide a vast
arena for the hydraulic professionals from China and even from all over the world to give
play to their wisdom, and also open a new horizon for international hydraulic
professionals to make cooperative studies in China. With China¡¯s entry to WTO as a
developing country, more international experts will surely be invited to take part in the
water resources undertakings in China, and more Chinese hydraulic professionals will also
take part in the undertakings of water resources and hydropower in the world. We welcome
and encourage hydraulic professionals of other countries to come to China to carry out
cooperative hydraulic studies, introduce more advanced technologies and experiences to
China and make joint efforts with the Chinese people to solve water issues and problems. The International Association of
Hydraulic Engineering and Research is a very influential organization in the research and
application of hydraulics. Since its founding in 1935, 28 congresses with seminars have
been held, fruitful research achievements and examples of application were presented at
each congress and the participants also included many scientists with initiative,
important achievements, who made outstanding contribution to hydraulic research and set
good examples for us. The Chinese hydraulic professionals have taken part in many
activities of IAHR, not only making many friends but also learning many advanced
international experiences through exchange. I wish to take this opportunity to
thank President Holly and other members of the IAHR Council for their help and support to
the Chinese Hydraulic Engineering Society, and hope that close cooperation will continue
between China and IAHR in the fields of sustainable utilization of water resources and so
on. I hope that this congress will
provide a good chance for the participants to make extensive technical exchange, carry out
academic discussions and look into the future, so as to further strengthen the friendship
and cooperation among all the hydraulic professionals from different countries, promote
hydraulic research in the world and the application of research achievements in different
countries, thus making greater contribution to solve water issues and problems! I wish the congress a great success
and all guests¡¯ good health and a pleasant stay in China. Thank you! |
