At the invitation of Mr. Thor Chetha, Cambodian Minister of Water Resources and Meteorology, Madam Narumon, Thai Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives, and Mr. Do Duc Duy, Vietnamese Minister of Agriculture and Environment, Mr. Li Guoying, Minister of Water Resources of China, led a delegation to visit Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam from March 16th to 25th, 2025, thus disseminating the measures and achievements of China’s Ministry of Water Resources in practicing President Xi Jinping’s water governance principles of “prioritizing water conservation, balancing spatial distribution, taking systematic approaches and promoting government-market synergy” and promoting high-quality development in water sector. Moreover, multiple consensuses were reached on implementing the requirements of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting and fostering the Lancang-Mekong water resources cooperation.
In the meeting with Minister Thor Chetha, Minister Li briefed China’s experience and achievements in the spheres of basin-scale water resources management as well as flood and drought prevention by using four-sphere preparedness in forecasting, early warning, stimulation and emergency preplanning. He further stated that China and Cambodia enjoyed long-term cooperation and achieved fruitful outcomes in water sector. China stands ready to scale up exchanges and cooperation with the Cambodian side in the fields of hydrological monitoring technology, planning of industrial and agricultural water supply projects, small and smart livelihood projects, among others. Besides, China is willing to join hands with Cambodia in basin-wide water affairs to contribute to advancing a high-quality, high-level and high-standard China-Cambodia community with a shared future. When attending the launching ceremony of the China-Cambodia-UNICEF South-South Cooperation Project with Mr. Hem Vandy, Cambodian Minister of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation, Minister Li expressed willingness to share China’s experience and technologies in ensuring rural drinking water security with Cambodia through this project.
During the meeting with Minister Narumon, Minister Li noted that China endeavored to carry out the construction and innovation of irrigation districts to guarantee food security. Then, he suggested that China and Thailand shall step up cooperation by means of policy dialogues, practical projects, coordination in international water events, etc. As meeting with Mr. Kidtimonton, Secretary General of National Water Resources Office of Thailand, Minister Li introduced China’s efforts in flood and drought prevention, and conducted in-depth exchanges in the areas of the important role of upstream reservoirs in flood control and drought resistance, enhancing cooperation in sharing hydrological information between upstream and downstream, among others.
When meeting with Minister Do Duc Duy, Minister Li highlighted the bilateral long-term cooperation and traditional friendship in water sector, and expressed willingness to gear up water cooperation from the perspective of building a China-Vietnam community with a shared future of strategic significance. He further put forward pragmatic suggestions on bilateral water cooperation in the future, including sustainable governance and protection in the delta, joint research on coping with the impact of climate change on water resources, hydrological information sharing between upstream and downstream, and construction of a unified governance and management platform for the Lancang-Mekong river basin, so as to make more contributions to the long-term development of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Mechanism.
The ministers of three countries all conveyed their gratitude for China’s support in assisting Mekong river countries to cope with floods and droughts, highly appreciated China’s water management concept and experience, recognized China’s opinions and suggestions, and expressed their willingness to further expand and deepen practical cooperation in the field of water resources in the Lancang-Mekong region, in order to contribute to building up a Lancang-Mekong community with a shared future for peace and prosperity.
Minister Li and Chinese delegates visited the Tonle Sap Lake Management Authority of Cambodia, the Smart Water Operation Center of Thailand, the National Meteorological and Hydrological Service of Vietnam, Thuyloi University of Vietnam and other water institutions. Besides, they conducted on-site surveys on pilot sites of the Lancang-Mekong Sweet Spring Action, relevant hydrological stations, flood control projects, and typical river sections of the Lancang-Mekong River in Chiang Saen, Tonle Sap Lake and Delta. During the visit, they also carried out in-depth exchanges with relevant agencies on technical issues of common interests, including river-lake relationship, ecological protection, delta governance, seawater intrusion, among others.
Since the 1st Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Leaders’ Meeting commenced in 2016, the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation has been carried out for 10 years. As one of the priority areas of the Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, water resources is highlighted by all parties, and has been playing a pivotal and fundamental role in the spheres of climate resilience, flood control and disaster reduction, food and energy security, water supply, ecological environment protection, sustainable economic and social development, livelihood improvement, etc.
Source: INTCE