Dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, 

I would like to thank my counterparts from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam for their excellent speeches, in which they generously shared their experiences in water resources management and put forward valuable thoughts and suggestions on further strengthening Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation. The report by the Joint Working Group was brilliant. Thank you all for what you have done to deepen our cooperation. 

Our six countries are connected by the Lancang-Mekong River and closely tied to each other geographically and culturally, with a strong people-to-people bond. The Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation, rooted in our traditional friendship and built on our common interests, echoes the trend of the times and the call of the people. Since the launch of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation mechanism in 2016, our six countries have become six in one in implementing the decisions of the LMC leaders, and have made important progress in relevant aspects. First, we have set up the Joint Working Group on Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation, and established the Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Center in China. Second, we have jointly formulated the Five-year Action Plan for Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation. Third, we convened the first Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Forum, which strengthened our water policy dialogue. Fourth, we have organized extensive technology and personnel exchanges. Fifth, we have promoted hydrological data sharing in the Lancang-Mekong Basin. Sixth, we have jointly prepared and implemented a number of pragmatic projects, making remarkable achievements and benefiting the people of all the six countries. 

Dear colleagues, 

As we all know, leaders of the six LMC countries share high expectations for Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation. At the Second Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Summit, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang listed water resources cooperation and capacity cooperation for water conservancy facilities as the priority areas of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation. Meanwhile, we LMC countries enjoy and will enjoy more new opportunities in economic and social development right now and for a period to come. Our exchanges and cooperation in water resources will help us improve water resources management, which is of great significance for promoting  and safeguarding sustainable economic and social development in our countries. We should act more resolutely, better coordinate with each other and take more effective measures to enable    our water resources cooperation a steady and sustainable growth. I would like to take this opportunity to make four suggestions for Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation. 

First, we should fully respect each other’s right to reasonable development and utilization of water resources. We are all developing countries and for us, development is the top priority. As our economic and social development continues, the demand for water in our countries will increase correspondingly, which the ministers have just mentioned in their speeches . On the other hand, floods and droughts have become more frequent in the Lancang-Mekong Basin due to climate change. As such, reasonable development and utilization of water resources is our inevitable choice if we are to guarantee water security for economic growth and social development. Therefore, building water conservancy projects is both a necessity and a right of all the six countries. 

International experiences have also shown that the construction of water works is an important and inevitable way to develop and utilize water and hydropower resources, control and mitigate floods and droughts, develop economy and support the well-being of the people. According to publicly available data, the United States effectively regulates all its major rivers through large-scale water conservancy projects, with its per capita reservoir capacity being five to six times that of China. Some of the U.S. water conservancy works have been running for over a century. Furthermore, to better control floods in its northwest, the U.S. even paid to build a regulating reservoir in Canada in 1964. The same is true in Europe. Countries like Norway, Switzerland and Sweden record a hydropower development rate as high as 90% or more. . 

Abundant water and hydropower resources in the Lancang-Mekong Basin support local economic growth and social development. In our pursuit of sustainable development, it would be advisable to formulate our respective water resources development strategies in alignment with our national conditions and natural endowments to benefit our people. Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation requires our mutual trust, support and understanding as well as respect to each other’s right to reasonably developing and utilizing water resources based on our respective national needs and situations. 

Second, we should take each other’s major concerns into full  consideration. One’s development and utilization of water resources will certainly affect others’ water consumption for production and domestic purposes and even the water ecology in the upstream or downstream, on both banks. This holds true in China as well. I believe that it is only reasonable that we share not only the rights but also the responsibilities for the river. In other words, each riparian country has the right to reasonably develop and utilize water resources, and at the same time needs to  shoulder the responsibilities of addressing the concerns of other countries, protecting the water resources, and striking a balance between economic development and ecological conservation. That is, the upstream countries should address downstream concerns in the course of development and utilization, while the downstream  countries should respect the justified rights of the upstream countries. By doing so, we will be able to create a harmonious and balanced upstream-downstream relationship. 

In its water resources cooperation with the Mekong countries, China has always upheld the principles of amity, sincerity, mutual benefit, and inclusiveness, and fully considered the downstream needs for flood control, disaster relief and water security. For example, we have provided Lancang’s flood-season hydrological data to Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam for seventeen consecutive years, and started  to do so for Myanmar this year. Such data are vital for the five Mekong countries in flood and drought control. Meanwhile, based on scientific assessment, we have built cascade hydropower stations on the Lancang River, the Chinese stretch of the Mekong River, to store water in the flood season and replenish water in the dry season. These projects have markedly improved the conditions for flood control, water supply, irrigation and navigation in a certain range of the upstream. In 2016, the downstream delta of the Mekong River was hit by a severe drought rarely seen in the past century. Answering to their call for assistance, the Chinese government sacrificed its own interests–China also suffered from drought at that time–and replenished water to  the downstream countries immediately to help them fight against the drought. 

China has always fulfilled its due obligations through concrete actions, about which I believe the state leaders and water ministers of the Mekong countries and many of  you present here have first-hand knowledge. Of course, we should keep in mind that the water output of Lancang is only 15% of the entire Mekong River, and China consumes only 1% of the water flow in the basin. Thus China’s development and utilization of water resources along the upstream have only limited impact on the downstream, and its responsibilities and obligations should not be exaggerated. As a responsible country, China will continue to seek friendship and partnership with its neighbors, fulfill its due obligations and deepen its cooperation with the Mekong countries. 

Third, only through cooperation can we achieve win-win for all six countries. Countries along a trans-boundary river tend to vary greatly in terms of water  resources and national conditions, and their cooperation has no fixed pattern. But one thing is certain: cooperation based on equality, mutual benefits and mutual respect is the fundamental way towards win-win. This message is well taken in China and proved again and again by water resources development and utilization in some of its major rivers and inter-province cooperation programs. According to statistical data, there are 276 trans-boundary river basins in the world, covering about 46% of the land on Earth, feeding over 40% of the world’s population and thus drawing much international attention. Trans-boundary river cooperation has become a hot topic across the world. But to our notice, in some trans-boundary river basins, the conflicts over water resources are so intense that interstate relations and the ecology are damaged, the root cause of which is the absence of scientific, thorough and effective cooperation among the basin countries. 

As the old Chinese saying goes, “If two people are of the same mind, their sharpness can cut through metal”; only through cooperation can we make great things happen and last for long. Our six countries share weal and woe and are a community of shared future. As for common challenges such as frequent floods and droughts, damaged water ecology in some areas, water pollution and climate change, no country is immune to them or can deal with them on its own. We need to work together in seizing opportunities, performing responsibilities and tackling challenges.  Cooperation is the answer: only through cooperation can we deliver win-win results; without it, there will only be conflicts and a lose-lose situation. Our Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation enjoys favorable natural conditions, a solid foundation, a strong will and huge potentials. Through consultation on an equal footing, we should fully respect each other’s interests and major concerns, make each other comfortable, find the maximum common ground, and realize win-win cooperation. 

Fourth, matters of Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation should be handled through consultation within the Basin. “Our destiny is closely linked by  the same river.” Our six countries in the Lancang-Mekong Basin are good neighbors. We will come to each other’s aid when needed, but disputes are inevitable,  even among the best neighbors. To resolve disputes and conflicts, we should respect others’ right to reasonable development and utilization of water resources, address each other’s major concerns, and consult and work with each other based on sincerity and mutual understanding. I believe that our cooperation should be based on one principle: the Lancang-Mekong Basin supports and belongs to us six countries, not any others, and thus water resources cooperation should be left in our own hands, and our own hands only; It is our six countries that should lead the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, decide on relevant matters and choose our own development path. We should see that we have a long tradition of harmonious co-existence, mutual respect and mutual trust, and that for years we have practiced Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation based on sincerity and mutual benefits. I believe that we have the ability to produce more fruits from Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation. 

Recently we have seen some other countries and organizations backseat-driving our Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation, each with its own agenda. They turn a blind eye to facts, mislead the general public in the Basin, and interfere with the Mekong countries’ reasonable development and utilization of the river. They enjoy many hydropower stations at home, but jump out to accuse others of building hydropower projects, and release comments strongly biased against the Mekong basin whose economic underdevelopment is made worse by frequent floods and drought. This greatly affects the local reasonable development and utilization of water resources and hydropower resources. Their “double standards” are unacceptable. 

Looking into the future, it is my firm belief that Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, which came into being because of the river, will thrive on our water resources cooperation. We should give priority to development and conservation, conduct consultation on an equal footing, and remain pragmatic and efficient, open and inclusive. We should scientifically plan and implement targeted policies by taking each other’s national conditions, including hydrological conditions, into consideration. We should also strengthen policy dialogue, technology cooperation and information sharing, to develop our water resources cooperation into a “flagship brand” of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation and the Lancang-Mekong River into a river of friendship, cooperation and prosperity. Through sustainable utilization, management and conservation of water resources, we should continue to drive economic and social development and benefit the people in all the six countries. Here are my three humble suggestions for our cooperation in the next step. 

First, we should strengthen our collaboration mechanism through consultation. I suggest our six countries take turns to host the ministerial meeting on a regular basis to discuss and decide on water resources cooperation matters and set up working groups to implement specific tasks. Water authorities in each riparian country should have dialogues on water policies, and the Joint Working Group should meet to discuss relevant issues and propose implementation plans. The Second Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Forum, to be convened by my ministry – the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources – next year, should try to lay down some general principles for the development and utilization of water and hydropower resources. 

Second, we should advance reasonable development and utilization of water resources through joint contribution. I suggest that after the above general principles are determined through consultation, our six countries should set our own targets and coordinate with each other to advance the reasonable development and utilization of water and hydropower resources. My colleagues and I would like to align our goals with the Belt and Road Initiative and work with the five Mekong countries in basin planning, flood and drought control, and hydropower development for mutual benefits. 

Third, we should build a high-level information platform for information sharing. I suggest we strengthen the sharing of information, experiences and capabilities regarding water resources in the Lancang-Mekong Basin, and build a high-tech, collaborative, efficient, open and transparent information sharing platform as soon as possible to truly realize information sharing. This is on top of my  ministry’s agenda to advance LMC. We want the platform to be genuinely useful and helpful, allowing all LMC countries to upload and share their hydrological data and other information and giving them the access whenever they need to check the data. Such a platform will be able to provide references and support for the reasonable development and utilization of the Basin. We welcome specialists from the five Mekong countries to visit the Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Center in China for exchanges and cooperation, to improve our technical support as a whole. 

Ladies and gentlemen, 

Our ongoing water governance in China will certainly benefit our neighbors, especially, the Mekong countries, with which we are happy to share our experience and proposals. 

As we all know, the large population, insufficient water resources, and frequent floods and droughts have combined to make water governance an arduous challenge in China. In response, President Xi Jinping has proposed an approach that “prioritizes water conservation, seeks spatial equilibrium, implements systematic governance and achieves government-market synergy”. Following President Xi’s instruction, in the Ministry of Water Resources, we have changed our mindset and set our focus on“addressing deficiencies of water projects and reinforcing regulation of the water sector”. We make water conservation the prerequisite for water resources  development and utilization, and have launched the nationwide water conservation campaign and improved water use efficiency and benefits on all fronts. We make water resources the biggest rigid constraint, tighten control over water consumption, continue to base urban planning, land use planning, population size and output target on the available water resources, and curb unreasonable water demand. We make river and lake governance a key task, strengthen the river flood control and disaster relief system, and appoint the administrative heads of the provincial, municipal, county and township levels as the chiefs of local rivers and lakes. We crack down on illegal occupation of and damages to rivers and lakes, reinforce efforts to restore and  improve the water ecology, and seek fundamental changes to the development pattern of water conservancy. So far our concepts and practices have proved effective and we look forward to further cooperation with the Mekong countries. 

In the next step, while implementing the Five-Year Action Plan for Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation 2018-2022, my ministry will launch demonstration projects regarding dam safety and safe drinking water as soon as possible, and support Chinese enterprises to contribute to overseas water conservancy and hydropower projects with their cost-effective equipment and workforce and pursue sustainable development. We will support specialists in water technology and management from the five Mekong countries to come to China for wider and deeper exchanges at a higher level, and their young water professionals to study in China, and provide scholarships for overseas students from these countries. 

Ladies and gentlemen, 

We will take this ministerial meeting as a new beginning, work with other water resources ministries in the riparian countries to improve our water governance and management capacity, and contribute more to sustainable economic and social development and the building of a Lancang-Mekong community of shared future. 

Thank you.