Press release
European and Chinese stakeholders of the China Europe Water Platform (CEWP) met on the 26th June in Qingdao, China for celebrating the official start of a new series of projects funded by the European Union’s Partnership Instrument in support of the CEWP. The kick-off workshop has been the opportunity to discuss the different objectives and actions planned within the frame of these projects (2018-2021). This support will enable the platform to strengthen its leadership role in the field of China-Europe water cooperation which includes among its many focuses river basin management, rural water, the links between urbanization, energy and water, as well as international water policy and business and innovation issues.
On 27th June 2018 was hosted as well the Joint Steering Committee Meeting of the CEWP which ended with a renewed commitment on both the Chinese and European sides towards the Water Platform, which work is based on mutual interest and mutual benefit. Both meetings were held in connection to the Qingdao International Water Conference.
Considering the particular role of water as a crucial natural resource and its impacts on environment, but also on social and economic development, the objective of the China Europe Water Platform (CEWP) is to promote policy dialogue, joint research and business development in the water sector.
Since the CEWP was introduced, four annual high-level dialogues have been held respectively in Zhengzhou, Budapest, Beijing and Copenhagen. The 2017 CEWP High-level Dialogue Conference that was held in Turku, Finland with high-level representatives from 11 countries, EU, World Bank and OECD and over 400 delegates present, was concluded by the Turku Declaration, which promotes China-EU cooperation on water resource management, green growth and circular economy, with a particular focus on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development goal on water. This high level conference was concluded by the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding, establishing formally a Water Policy Dialogue between the EU and China.
The next high level dialogue is planned to be held in Beijing in November this year, where the focus will be on the global promotion of water-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as the exchange of policies and practices related to water security, river and lake governance, and environment restoration.
Background information
The China Europe Water Platform (CEWP) was established in 2012 and aims at strengthening water cooperation between the EU and China. The EU-China 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation explicitly supports the EU-China Water Platform so as to “promote water policy dialogue, enhance joint scientific research and business cooperation with a view to addressing water challenges such as water quantity (water scarcity, drought, ground water, urban water systems, water and security nexus), water use efficiency (water recycling, industrial water use, water and food nexus, water and energy nexus), water quality (pollution reduction, river basin management), and water disasters”.