Opening Address at the Symposium of China, Japan and Korea Commissions on Large Dams

　　Distinguished guests, Mrs. Ayako sono, a Japanese most renown novelist, Mr. Alesandro Palmieri from the World Bank, Prof. Abdalla Ahmed from UNESCO, and Dr. Jia Jinsheng, Vice President of the International Commission on Large Dams, Dr. Takashi Toyoda, President of Japan Commission on Large Dams, Mr. Kim woogu, Vice Chairman of Korean National Commission on Large Dams,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

　　I am pleased to have this opportunity to attend the 2nd Symposium of China, Japan and Korea Commissions on Large Dams as a delegation member of Chinese National Commission on Large Dams. First of all, I’d like to express our sincere thanks on behalf of Mr. Lu Youmei, Chairman of Chinese National Commission on Large Dams, to the Japanese organizer of this symposium and to extend our warm welcome to all of the Chinese, Japanese and Korean delegates to the symposium.

　　“While the last parting embrace is still fresh in our memory,
　　Autumn wind reminds us of the year passing away;
　　We are gathering on the beautiful land of Japan,
　　Making another exploration into rivers’ behavior.”

　　Autumn is the season of harvest. The conference held in autumn brings us the joy for common share of the harvest. Chinese Committee sends 42 delegates to attend this event, representing more than 20 organizations, institutes and entities involved in dam research and planning, exploration and design, development and construction, as well as operation and management. I believe that through the coming academic exchange activities, we fellow members engaged in water resources and hydropower from East Asian countries will be able to draw on collective wisdom and learn from each other, achieving mutual benefits in the discussion of the defined themes on river and reservoir sediment issues, reservoir and dam operation safety, and so on. These discussions will deepen in both theoretical and practical aspects our understanding and awareness of the law of sediment movement related to a hydraulic project and give us the guidance for our respective construction and management practice of dam projects.

　　The water conservancy construction in China is in a period of booming development. The Three Gorges Project, the South-to-North Water Diversion Project, the flood disaster prevention projects for major river systems and water environment pollution control projects, as well as hydropower development on the rivers in the southwest part of China are all important to both national economy and the people’s livelihood. How to plan, design, construct and operate well these projects in compliance with the concept of scientific development and the requirement of building a harmonious society has become both opportunities and severe challenges the Chinese water resources and hydropower industry now is confronted with. In the past years of development and construction, the Chinese engineers have obtained many valuable experiences from successes and also learnt some lessons from failures. Our management capability in scientific research, planning & design, construction, manufacturing, operation has grown up now and they are able to undertake the construction tasks for future major water and hydropower projects. However it should be noted that construction of any hydraulic project to harness a main river will be a huge systematic engineering work. Practice has dawn on us that a lot of issues not well known or some problems not well deal with in the construction of these projects not only involve the technical and engineering aspects, but also relate to social, cultural, ecologic and public relation aspects.

　　We should face up to the challenges to address these issues. We believe it is advisable for us to strengthen cooperation with international engineering society and to learn from the advanced experiences obtained by other nations in their successful practice. This is just the point that the Chinese delegates lay focus on in their attendance at this symposium, which provides a good opportunity for us to learn from our colleagues from our neighbors, Japan and Korea.

　　Let us congratulate beforehand the success of this symposium.