On 22 March, the World Water Day 2024 Open Day was held in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. The event was jointly hosted by the China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research and the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for East Asia, and co-sponsored by IRTCES, the International Association for Hydro-Environment Engineering and Research and the IAHR China Chapter. President of IWHR and Director of IRTCES, Peng Jing, Director of the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for East Asia, Shahbaz Khan, Chief Engineer of the Department of Water Resources of Zhejiang Province, Chen Yexing, Director of the National Water Museum of China, Chen Yongming, attended the event and made speeches, from the Ministry of Water Resources of the People’s Republic of China directly under the institutions, the local relevant units of the leadership of experts, as well as Pakistan, Mongolia, Indonesia, Mexico, Brazil, Uruguay, Austria, Denmark, Australia and other countries' embassies and consulates in China attended the event. 

“World Water Day” was established by the United Nations in 1993 and is celebrated on 22 March every year to highlight the importance of water and advocate the sustainable management of water resources. The theme of World Water Day 2024 is "Water for Peace", which emphasizes the important role of water in promoting peace and prosperity and achieving sustainable development. 2024 World Water Day Open Day activities built a platform for exchange and dialogue between different water cultures and mutual learning and appreciation between different water civilizations in the form of museum study, salon exchange seminars and city water system visits. In order to appreciate the beauty of various water civilizations, discuss the water governance strategies of various countries, use water as a medium to promote global water cooperation, and jointly build a better future with harmony between human beings and water. 

In her speech, Peng Jing said that global water resources management is facing increasingly severe challenges in the context of climate change and population growth. The Chinese government attaches great importance to water conservancy work, and has deeply implemented the General Secretary of CPC Central Committee, Xi Jinping's "Water conservation first, Spatial balance, Systematic governance, and Two-handedness" water governance and the spirit of important discourses on water governance, promoting the high-quality development of water conservancy in the new phase, and making world-renowned achievements in water governance. We look forward to further strengthening exchanges and cooperation among different water civilizations through the World Water Day Open Day, and continuing to promote General Secretary Xi Jinping's thoughts on water governance as a mainstream international water governance concept, so as to jointly promote the sustainable development of global water resources. 

Representatives of various countries engaged in dialogue on "Using Water as a Matchmaker - Promoting the Building of a Community of Human Destiny", expressed their appreciation for the achievements of China's water resources development in the new era and scientific and technological innovations. They also shared the water wisdom of their respective countries to cope with the challenges of climate change, and talked about the beautiful vision of water-related cooperation with China to achieve the sustainable development of water resources. 

Representatives of the countries jointly created a commemorative booklet for “World Water Day 2024”, which was presented to the National Water Museum of China by the Chinese Academy of Water Sciences and the UNESCO Multisectoral Regional Office for East Asia. 

During the event, delegates also visited the National Water Museum of China to learn more about the history and achievements of water management in China, and visited Hangzhou's urban water system and water cultural heritage.