Ｓｙｍｐｏｓｉｕｍ Ａｄｄｒｅｓｓｉｎｇ Ｒｕｒａｌ Ｄｒｉｎｋｉｎｇ Ｗａｔｅｒ Ｐｒｏｂｌｅｍｓ ａｎｄ Ｗａｔｅｒ Ｓａｆｅｔｙ Ｈｅｌｄ ｉｎ Ｂｅｉｊｉｎｇ

On September 19， a symposium addressing Rural Drinking Water Problems and Safety， jointly sponsored by the China Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development (CFFPD) and General Motors (China) Co.， Ltd.， was held in Beijing. Feng Zuoku， vice president of the CPAFFC and chairman of the board of the CFFPD， and Chen Shi， vice president of GM (China) attended the symposium and made speeches. Hu Jianhuai， secretary general of the CFFPD， and Terry Pritchett， director of Environment Energy Policy at General Motors Corporation’s Public Policy Centre were also present. Leaders of the Ministry of Water Resources， the State Environmental Protection Administration， and water authorities， foreign affairs offices and local friendship associations of Beijing， Shanghai， Tianjin， Hebei， Shandong， Liaoning， Inner Mongolia， Guangxi， Sichuan and Yunnan， as well as specialists and professors of water resources， totaling about 30 people， participated in the symposium and had a discussion on the current situation of China’s rural drinking water， existing problems and the practical measures to solve the problems.

In his speech， Feng Zuoku said， China suffers from water shortage and unbalanced distribution of drinking water resources. The government has showed deep concern over the difficulties of drinking water supply， the quality of drinking water and water pollution. It is one of the strategic measures of China’s Eleventh Five-Year Plan and an important public welfare programme of the CFFPD to protect the environment and water resources so as to let the masses of people have clean drinking water. Since its establishment in May 1996， the CFFPD has set up various special funds and given donations to support many programmes in the fields of nongovernmental diplomacy， education and training， culture and sports， health and hygiene， environmental protection， finance and insurance， the Western Development， care for the handicapped， poverty and disaster relief， etc. In recent years， the CFFPD has shifted its focus on improving rural drinking water. Feng Zuoku expressed his belief that the symposium would give great help and guidance to China on the problem of rural drinking water and thanked GM for its support for the symposium.

Vice President Chen Shi said， it was a great honour that GM could take part in such an activity and do something for improving China’s rural drinking water. As an enterprise with a high sense of social responsibility， GM aims to try its best to create a safer and cleaner living environment and healthier life for the Chinese people. The symposium’s themes concerned about environmental protection， public health and the disadvantaged groups. GM hoped to make contributions to solving these problems.

At the symposium， the representative of the Ministry of Water Resources briefed about the plan， the measures and relevant policies concerning the problems of rural drinking water. A scholar from the China University of Geosciences made a presentation of his research on high-fluorine water and high arsenic-containing water problems and raised suggestions on their solution. Representatives of provinces， municipalities and autonomous regions that have suffered most from water shortage and poor quality water also presented detailed， specified and pertinent reports. The participants stated the importance of changing ways of thinking， and popularizing among and educating the people on the importance of protecting and exploiting water resources. They proposed a number of concrete projects and pointed out where aid is needed as well as preparations， procedures and follow-up maintenance and management of the projects. They provided a great deal of materials and references for future cooperation on the cause of improving drinking water.