Mr. Chen Lei, Minister of Water Resources, met Mr. Alan Kelly, Minister of the Irish Environment, Community and Local Affairs and his colleagues in Beijing. Both sides deeply exchanged ideas on water challenges and tasks confronted by two countries, and reached the agreement on signing the MOU in the field of water resources as soon as possible to comprehensively deepen bilateral water cooperation.

Minister Chen pointed out that China and Ireland had the good cooperation foundation in water resources, especially in the aspects education and training of hydrology and water resources, and hoped that both sides could share advanced technologies and experience in the field of water resources management. Since 2010, the bilateral cooperation and exchange visits have achieved remarkable outcomes, and this enhanced the joint improvement of water resources management in both countries.

Minister Kelly highly appreciated the achievements of water resources management in China and hoped to learn the successful experience of China in urban water supply safety, efficient operation of water management authorities, etc. He expected to further strengthen the bilateral cooperation in water resources management and water protection, and increase the exchanges between government departments, research institutions and water enterprises.

The Irish Ambassador John Paul Kavanagh and senior officials from relevant departments of Ministry of Water Resources attended the meeting.