On April 29, 2019, Minister E Jingjing met with Mr. Joao Pedro Matos Fernandes, Minister of Environment and Energy Transition of the Portuguese Republic, in Beijing. The two sides made in-depth exchanges regarding the implementation of Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries and bilateral water cooperation under the framework of China-Europe Water Platform.

　　Minister E Jingping sincerely welcomed Minister Fernandes for his special visit to Ministry of Water Resources of China during the Second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation, and he stressed that since the establishment of comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Portugal in 2015, both sides have conducted successful cooperation based on mutual trust. The Portuguese side firmly supports the Belt and Road Initiative by signing the memorandum of understanding with Chinese government, which lays a solid foundation for water cooperation.

　　Minister E introduced that China is confronted with prominent and complex water problems, such as floods and droughts disasters, water shortage, ecological degradation and water environmental pollution. After years of efforts, the country has made great accomplishment by constructing 98,000 reservoirs of various types, in order to upgrade flood control capacity and safeguard water security. Along with social and economic development, water ecology and environment degradation caused by the over-exploitation of water resources have emerged, which need urgent solutions. According to the guidelines of “prioritizing water conservation, balancing development with spatial distribution of water resources, practicing systematic governance and achieving government-market synergy” by President Xi Jinping, the Ministry of Water Resources has placed water resources conservation, utilization and protection in a prominent position in order to effectively address the existing and new water challenges. China is ready to work with Portuguese counterpart to share experiences and practices in water governance and jointly promoting practical cooperation.

　　Minister Fernandes briefed about the practices of water governance in Portugal, including concepts and challenges, water conservation and protection, flood and drought prevention, ecological restoration of rivers and coastal areas, and active response to global climate change. He expressed that both countries are facing similar challenges in the water field even though the situations of the two countries are different. It is expected to strengthen policy dialogue and technical exchanges under the framework of the memorandum, so as to enhance the level of water management in the two countries.

　　Two sides also exchanged views on the main themes of CEWP 7th Annual High-Level Dialogue Conference.

　　Officials from relevant departments and affiliated institutions of Ministry of Water Resources and diplomates from the Portuguese embassy to China attended the meeting.