On June 9, H.E. Mr. Li Guoying, Minister of Water Resources, met H.E. Madam Alice Wahome, Minister of Water, Sanitation and Irrigation of Kenya. Both sides conducted in-depth exchanges on deepening China-Kenya water cooperation.

Minister Li introduced that China’s basic water regime features summer floods and winter droughts as well as scarce water resources in the north and abundant in the south. The distribution of precipitation in time and space is extremely uneven, thus resulting in frequent occurrence of flood and drought disasters. Ministry of Water Resources of China actively practices President Xi Jinping’s water governance philosophy of “prioritizing water conservation, balancing spatial distribution, taking systematic approaches, and giving full play to the roles of both government and market”. A series of effective measures has been carried out in the spheres of water disasters, water resources, water ecology and water environment governance, so as to continuously improve the guarantee capacity of national water security. China and Kenya have maintained friendly exchanges and cooperation in water sector for a long time. In recent years, China has consistently organized technical training for Kenyan water technicians, and actively provided assistance in the areas of small hydropower, water supply, irrigation and water infrastructure construction including reservoirs and dams. The two countries will continuously deepen exchanges and cooperation, and jointly tackle common challenges facing water security.

Minister Wahome expressed admiration for China’s achievements in water governance and sincere gratitude for China’s long-term support for Kenya’s water development. Kenya has regarded water as a fundamental resource supporting social and economic development. Over recent years, Kenya has promoted the construction of large-scale water infrastructure, and is willing to learn from China’s experience in water governance and management, especially in the fields of flood and drought disaster prevention, irrigation district construction, dam construction, integrated water resources management, integrated river basin management, smart hydrological monitoring, rural water supply, among others. Under the Belt and Road Initiative and other cooperation frameworks, Kenya stands ready to undertake practical water cooperation with China, so as to comprehensively upgrade Kenya’s water management.

Before the meeting, Minister Wahome and her colleagues visited the headquarter of Changjiang Water Resources Commission in Wuhan and made a field excursion to Dujiangyan, Three Gorges Project and other water projects.