Chinese-Dutch cooperation will continue to flow for the foreseeable future
The Huai is a 1150 km-long river in China that flows between the Yellow River and the Yangtze. Although important, the river is also infamous for its susceptibility to flooding. In the past few years, China has built a number of dams and locks with the aim of regulating the flow and preventing flooding.
For the Netherlands, the Rhine river represents a series of challenges in the field of water management. Due to climate change, for example, there are more often periods of heavy rainfall and high volumes of melt water that lead to higher water levels and increased flood risks.
At the same time, high temperature and drought records continue to tumble, with historically low water levels becoming increasingly common. It is therefore no coincidence that in the collaboration between the Netherlands and China, these two rivers have been selected as pilot projects for the exchange of knowledge.
Memorandum of Understanding
For more than 30 years, this collaboration has been formulated in a Memorandum of Understanding, a declaration of intent in which the Netherlands and China express the goal of working together in the fields of water and climate adaptation.
A visiting delegation from China recently reconfirmed this cooperation with Rijkswaterstaat for the next few years. The visit involved a number of excursions to various locations including the Afsluitdijk and the Room for the River project in Deventer.
The delegation was headed by Mr Cheng Dianlong, Chief Economist of the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources. Other members of the delegation were scientists from several knowledge institutes including the Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute. The meetings were chaired on behalf of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management by Director-General Martin Wijnen.
Learning for each other
The collaboration offers numerous opportunities to exchange knowledge on a number of issues including water safety. In the Netherlands, for example, there are relatively few cases of dyke breaches. These are events that occur annually in China, and on a much larger scale. We in the Netherlands can learn a great deal from our Chinese counterparts about how to rebuild a dyke to be better and stronger.
China also has extensive knowledge of drought conditions, being a country that practically every type of climate within its national borders. They operate several examples of drought prevention schemes, such as the ‘sponge city’ concept developed in China.
The scale and speed with which China acts when it comes to water management is also interesting for the Netherlands. The city of Shanghai for example is building a huge new storm surge barrier, with incredible speed. In these times of unpredictable climate change, what functions and capacities must be taken into account when building a new barrier? What lessons can be learned, and what techniques can best be used?
China Europe Water Platform
Alongside this bilateral cooperation, for almost 15 years, the Netherlands has also been a member of the China Europe Water Platform (CEWP). This platform brings together several different European Member States, the European Commission and the Chinese Ministry of Water Resources.
In March 2023, European representatives including the then Minister of Infrastructure and Water Management Mark Harbers, the Vice President of the European Commission and the Chinese Minister for Water signed a declaration confirming the importance of continuing cooperation between Europe and China on water.
Since that time, the European Commission has launched the new European project ‘Europe China Cooperation on Water’, with the aim of supporting a new phase for the China Europe Water Platform.