China to Further Co-op with Mekong River Countries

　　 The Mekong River(known in Tibet

as Dza-chu, China as the Lancang River

and Thailand as Mae Namkhong), is the

longest river in Southeast Asia, running

4, 800 kilometers through six countries(China, Burma, Thai

land, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Vietnam). It is the

lifeblood of Southeast Asia. The Mekong River Basin contain

s all the streams and rivers that flow into the Mekong River.

From its headwaters thousands of meters high on the Tibeta

n Plateau, it flows through six distinct geographical regions,

each with characteristic features of elevation, topography

( 地形学 ) and land cover.

　　 The Mekong River has the beautiful natural scenery an

d rich resources in the world. The most abundant resources a

re water and biodiversity （生物多样性） . On average, 15,

000 cubic meters of water passes by every second. This water

nourishes （滋养） large tracts of forest and wetlands which

produce building materials, medicines and food, provides h

abitats for thousands of species of plants and animals and su

pports an inland capture fishery with an estimated commerci

al value of US 1. 45 billion

dollars per year. Known mineral resources include tin, copp

er, iron ore, natural gas, potash and gem stones. The river

has become a tourist route and major transport channel for o

il, production and other commodities between China and me

mbers of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEA

N). In the past five years, the river has carried up to two mill

ion tons of goods, representing trade worth more than 10 bill

ion yuan (1. 28 billion US dollars).

　　 However, because of the worse changes of the climate,

Mekong also has witnessed the lowest water level in the past

50 years. The MRC( 湄公河委员会 )Summit has drawn a lot

of attention since southwest China and some areas of the four

MRCmembers—Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam—

have been suffering severe drought since 2009. Here, the ann

ual dry season started much earlier than usual,

dropping the Mekong to its lowest in decades and affecting

millions of people living along the river. “We pump drinking

water from the Mekong River but now the water level is

extremely low. Agriculture is bad and another impact is on

fishing. There are no fish, ” one farmer said.

　　 Many villagers suspect China’s dams upstream, which

contributes to the record low water level. The dams have bee

n built to generate electricity. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister

Song Tao said that China is ready to strengthen the cooperat

ion with the downstream Mekong countries in drought-and-f

lood relief and technique sharing, as well as mutual hydrogr

aphic( 水文学 ) experts visit.

　　 He also proposed pushing forward the joint work on dis

aster relief, including flood reporting and flood /drought reli

ef training; cooperating and exchanging on hydropower deve

lopment, as well as arranging more technique sharing and m

utual visits of the related officials and experts. The runoff of t

he Mekong River mainly comes from the middle-and-lower

Mekong basin, amounting to 86. 5 percent. He

also quoted a statement by MRC last month as saying that th

e water level decline of the Lancang-Mekong main stem is co

ntributed by an early ending of rain season in 2009, a low m

onsoon （季候风） rainfall and an extreme lack of dry-seaso

n rainfall.

　　“ China shares common interests with the lower Meko

ng states for the protection of Mekong basin water resources,

its development and usage. As a responsible nation situated i

n the upstream of the Lancang-Mekong basin, China will ne

ver act in a manner that will harm the interests of those natio

ns at the downstream. The Mekong River is also our home an

d we love her. ”