On November 8^th, 2019, hosted by the Institute of Water Problems and Hydro Power of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic and co-organized by the Research Center for Ecology and Environment of Central Asia (RCEECA) Bishkek Branch, the Symposium on “Impacts of Climate Change and Human Activities on Water Resources in Central Asia” was held in the National Library in Bishkek, the capital of Kyrgyzstan. Representatives from the Presidential Palace, Parliament and Government of Kyrgyzstan, as well as experts and scholars from the scientific research institutes in Kyrgyzstan and RCEECA, attended the meeting; the opening ceremony of the symposium was presided over by Murat Jumataev, President of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Chen Xi, Vice President of Xinjiang Branch, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Director of RCEECA addressed the opening ceremony and looked back upon the scientific and technological cooperation with Kyrgyzstan based on Bishkek Branch. He highlighted that the Institute of Water Problems and Hydro Power of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic is one of most important partners of RCEECA in Kyrgyzstan, and the former president, Academician Mamakhanov, is an old friend of Chinese people. Both sides have achieved productive cooperation in terms of the construction of Kizilsu Mountain Ecosystem Field Observation and Research Station and the studies on water resources in Tianshan Mountains. He also expressed sincere congratulations to Academician Mamakhanov for his 85th birthday on behalf of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the RCEECA.

Representatives conducted academic exchanges on the water resource management in Central Asia and trans-border rivers planning, glacier-permafrost-lake system monitoring and hydropower resources in Central Asia. Before the symposium, Vice President Chen Xi was invited to cut the ribbon for the Academician Mamakhanov’s Scientific Research Achievement Exhibition.

Academician Mamakhanov is the most famous expert in water issues in the former Soviet Union and Central Asia. He has been engaged in the studies of glaciers and water resources in Tianshan Mountains for a long time, has maintained close exchanges and long-term cooperation and jointly published many academic papers and monographs with China. He once served as the science and technology advisor to the President of Kyrgyzstan and the Director of the Institute of Water Problems and Hydro Power of the National Academy of Sciences of the Kyrgyz Republic.

Chen Xi delivers a speech

President hosts the symposium

Symposium scene

Ribbon-cutting site