Chinese Vice Premier Hui Liangyu said China places great emphasis on the water conservancy and irrigation work at the nineteenth general assembly of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), which opened in Beijing.

Hui, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, noted that ensuring world food security and environment sustainable development pose not only a stark issue for humankind in the 21st century but a common duty and obligation for all countries as well as the international community.

The Chinese government endures a great pressure of guaranteeing food safety as the country has a vast population and far less average per-capita tillable land and fresh water resources, apart from frequent dry spells and waterlogging, he acknowledged.

The Chinese government attaches great importance to agriculture, and it has worked out a range of substantial policy measures over the past two decades to the benefit of peasant farmers, he said. Meanwhile, he promised on behalf of his government to intensify the agricultural infrastructure building featuring water conservancy, reasonably exploitation and protection of water and soil, and efforts to accelerate the development of irrigation and drainage technologies and boosting international exchanges in this regard.

Hui met with ICID President Keizrul bin Abdullah before the opening of the conference, which was attended by more than 1,000 delegates from some 50 countries.

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2005)