Recently, the international students from Mekong countries in our university wrote to Li Guoying, Minister of Water Resources of China, to extend their gratitude to the Ministry of Water Resources for their care and support for the international students from Mekong countries. They reported that as international students, they have worked hard to acquire expertise on water conservancy, learned traditional Chinese culture, followed the development of water conservancy in China, cared about Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation, and expressed their gratitude to the Chinese government and the Ministry of Water Resources. On April18, Li Guoying replied to Hohai University’s international students from Mekong countries.
Minister Li Guoying said in the reply that following President Xi Jinping’s guideline of “water conservation first, space balance, systematic governance and exerting force on both hands”, China is vigorously promoting high-quality development of water conservancy in the new stage and improving our ability to prevent floods and droughts, ensuring the intensive and economical use of water resources, optimizing the allocation of water resources, and protecting and governing the ecology of major rivers and lakes. Since the establishment of the Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation mechanism, water conservancy departments of the six countries have negotiated with each other and worked together to achieve fruitful results in the cooperation, which provides a strong guarantee for the economic and social development and improvement of people’s wellbeing in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin. He pointed out that the Ministry of Water Resources has actively encouraged young people from the Mekong countries to study in China, and made great efforts to promote information sharing, experience sharing, ability sharing and achievement sharing in Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation. He hopes that international students from Mekong countries can learn more about China and Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation during their study in Hohai University, and assume their responsibility as young ambassadors for Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation, so as to contribute to the sustainable development of water resources in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin as well as to the building of a community with a shared future for Lancang-Mekong countries.
Over recent years, supported by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Water Resources, Hohai University, based on the new situation and new requirements of education opening up in the new era, has focused on serving the Belt and Road Initiative, supporting the “double world-class project”, and giving full play to its unique advantages in water education, water science and technology, and water culture, and has vigorously carried out international scientific and educational cooperation with countries in the Lancang-Mekong River Basin. Since 2017, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Water Resources have jointly supported the implementation of the High-level Water Conservancy Talent Program of Lancang-Mekong Cooperation in our university. Thanks to the joint efforts of our university and the Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Center, the program was approved for the Chinese Government Silk Road Scholarship, and the graduates trained at the university have contributed their intelligence to and played an important role in their countries’ water governance and the Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation; the university’s application for establishing the Lancang-Mekong School has been approved, and is committed to training high-level talents in the fields of water resources, environment, energy and agriculture, and promoting the integrated development of education, culture and industry in Lancang-Mekong Countries; the university has strengthened its efforts to establish the Regional Research Center of Lancang-Mekong Countries, setting a fine example of education opening up in the new era; the university also set up the Hohai University Laos Center in Laos to help the country localize the cultivation of talent in the field of hydropower.
