The 7th China-Arab States Expo Water Resources Forum was held in Yinchuan, Ningxia, China, on August 29. Mr. CHEN Yong, Chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region Committee; Mr. LIU Dongshun, Vice Minister of Water Resources; Mr. Mohamed Al-Sheikh, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Bahrain to China; and Mr. Hamad Ait Bahaa, Vice President of the Draa-Tafilalet Region of Morocco, delivered speeches. Over 300 guests from China, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Bahrain, Egypt, Pakistan and other countries attended the event.

    With the theme "Industry Empowers the 'Four Waters, Four Determinations' Principle and Intensive & Economical Utilization of Water Resources", the forum aimed to facilitate academic exchanges in water-related fields, release the China-Arab Water Conservation Development Outlook Report and achievements of international water conservancy cooperation, and advance in-depth exchanges and collaboration in water conservancy between China, Arab states, and other countries participating in the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

    During the event, 20 practical and impactful water conservancy cooperation achievements—demonstrated to be effective in China, Arab states, and other BRI partner countries—were unveiled. These achievements span multiple categories, including exchange and cooperation platforms, cooperation models, and key technologies, and serve as typical examples of China's water conservancy sci-tech achievements going global. Notably, the "International Sediment Initiative (ISI)", submitted by IRTCES, was selected as one of the 20 achievements.

    ISI is one of the 17 flagship initiatives under the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme (IHP) of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), established in 2002. The objective of ISI is to increase awareness of erosion and sedimentation dynamics and sediment issues in all spheres of water management by linking science with policy and management needs and supporting the global agenda for sustainable sediment management. ISI also has the mission to organize and promote international information exchange and provide direct access to policy makers in Member States while activating scientific and professional communities in all regions and countries concerned. ISI will promote the elaboration and monitoring of sediment data to develop appropriate methods and procedures in sediment management. This overall objective is also aligned with the priorities of the current IHP-IX phase, as well as the overall UNESCO-IHP mission, which concerns mobilizing scientific and policy-relevant expertise, knowledge and tools for informed decisions in addressing water challenges, as well as strengthening transdisciplinary water research by supporting research on methods for stakeholder involvement and knowledge integration.