On November 16, 2024, the China Water Resources Academic Conference was held in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province. Zhu Chengqing, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. During the conference, the launch ceremony for the "Belt and Road" International Water Alliance took place. Li Hong, member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and Vice President of our university, attended the conference and participated in the launch ceremony of the alliance.

The event was witnessed by 19 Chinese founding organizations, including the China Society of Water Resources, the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, the Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, the International Center for Small Hydropower, the Yangtze River Institute of Hydraulic Research, the Yellow River Institute of Hydraulic Research, the Pearl River Institute of Hydraulic Research, the International Economic and Technical Cooperation Exchange Center of the Ministry of Water Resources, the China Three Gorges Corporation, the China South-to-North Water Diversion Group, the Power Construction Corporation of China, China Communications Construction Waterway Planning and Design Institute, Tsinghua University, Hohai University, North China University of Water Resources and Electric Power, Xi’an University of Technology, Chang’an University, Jiangsu University, and Heilongjiang University. These organizations collectively witnessed the launch and jointly proposed initiatives for the next stage of development. A total of 31 water-related institutions, including 19 Chinese and 12 international organizations, have signed the founding agreement for the Water Alliance.

To address global water governance challenges and promote water technical exchanges and cooperation among countries and regions along the Belt and Road, the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and the Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China jointly agreed to establish the "Belt and Road" International Water Alliance in 2021. The initiative, led by the China Water Resources Society with the support of CAST, aims to create a more comprehensive and inclusive platform for scientific and engineering exchanges in water resources. Through multilateral and bilateral academic exchanges, talent development, technology promotion, and industrial cooperation, the alliance aims to help countries and regions along the Belt and Road effectively address global water challenges and achieve sustainable water resource management.

Our university’s successful inclusion as a founding member of the "Belt and Road" International Water Alliance will significantly enhance communication and cooperation with member institutions, thereby boosting the influence of water conservancy engineering discipline of our university.