---Co-sponsored by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Chinese Government, National Research Institute for Rural Electrification, also known as Hangzhou Regional Center (Asia-Pacific) for Small Hydro Power (HRC) was established in November 1981 in Hangzhou. As an international organization, HRC is an institution for research, training, information dissemination and consultation on small hydropower in Asia-Pacific region and even in the whole world. And it is an important window through which China cooperates with other countries in the domain of small hydropower. HRC is the only domestic research institution on rural hydropower and electrification, training base for Research Center on Rural Hydropower, MWR and the whole water industry, International Sci-tech Cooperation Base for Renewable Energy and Rural Electrification in Zhejiang, International Human Resources Training Base for Green Hydropower, MWR and implementing entity of China-Pakistan Joint Laboratory on Small Hydropower under the Belt and Road Initiative. It is also the one and only organization in the water sector qualified to implement foreign-aid training programs sponsored by the Ministry of Commerce, P.R. China. HRC has played an active role in conducting training programs, carrying out international cooperation, establishing overseas technology transfer center/base, and hosting international meetings and bilateral exchange activities. With all these achievements, HRC is regarded as “the family of SHP in the world” by HRC’s alumni and the international peers, and applauded by the Ministry of Commerce as exemplary of South-South Cooperation. Entrusted by the Ministry of Water Resources, Ministry of Commerce, Ministry of Science and Technology, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, National Development and Reform Commission, China International Development Cooperation Agency and the related UN organizations, HRC has up to now completed 149 foreign-aid training programs with the participation of 4810 officials, technicians and professionals from 123 countries in the field of water and energy since 1983.
In 2022, under the careful guidance of the Department of International Cooperation and Science and Technology of the Ministry of Water Resources, Training Center of the Ministry of Commerce, Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province, and Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, HRC stepped up its efforts in organizing and implementing online training programs. With the support of International Economic and Technical Cooperation and Exchange Center, MWR, Human Resources Training Base for Belt and Road Initiative, MWR, International Center on Small Hydropower, Dam Safety Management Center of MWR, China -ASEAN Dam Safety Capacity Building Center, China Society of Hydropower Engineering, Chinese National Commission for International Association of Hydrological Sciences, Hohai University, Nanjing Research Institute of Hydrology and Water Conversation Automation, MWR and Zhejiang Tongji Vocational College of Science and Technology, HRC successfully carried out 15 foreign-aid training programs for developing countries, including Seminar on Electrification Mode based on Clean Energy for Belt and Road Countries, Seminar on Water Resources Management and Development of Ecological Small Hydropower for Belt and Road Countries, Seminar on Mitigating Climate Change with Clean Energy for Belt and Road Countries, Seminar on Small Hydropower and Green & Ecological Development for Belt and Road Countries, Seminar on Green Energy and Sustainable Development of Urban Communities for Developing Countries, Seminar on Exploitation and Development of Renewable Energies for the Dominican Republic, Seminar on Exploitation and Utilization of Water Resources and Treatment of Water Environment for the Republic of El Salvador, Seminar on Water Safety Management, Seminar on Rural Electrification and Poverty Reduction for African Countries, Training Course on Dams and Hydropower Sustainable Development, Training Course on Hydrological Monitoring and Flood Management for Developing Countries, Seminar on Energy Transition under South-South Cooperation, Seminar on Water Conservancy Technology for Developing Countries and Seminar on Rural Energy and Environment for Developing Countries. A total of 754 officials and professionals from 43 countries participated in the seminars and training courses mentioned above.
The 15 seminars and training courses have a close focus on hydropower and energy, and technical presentations, online visits and panel discussions were arranged in an effort to promote and share China’s management policy, proven technology and applicable solutions, and build a platform and lay a foundation for future economic and technical cooperation. Additionally, during the seminars and trainings, HRC also arranged Chinese language learning, Chinese culture and water culture experiencing activities in order to present a true, multi-dimensional and panoramic view of China while strengthening the appeal of its culture and friendly image.
1. Seminar on Electrification Mode based on Clean Energy for Belt and Road Countries
It took place online successfully from June 8th to June 21st. There were 52 participants of government officials, technical experts and enterprise staff from 8 Belt and Road countries including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.
Mr. Chantho Milattanapheng, Director General of Department of Energy Efficiency and Promotion (DEEP), Ministry of Energy and Mines, Lao PDR, gave a speech on behalf of all the participants. He expressed his sincere gratitude to the Chinese government for organizing the training. He said that many countries in the world are facing the challenge of energy crisis, thus having the urge to transit towards low-carbon and clean energy, adding that “I learn that the seminar is convened to present expertise and practice in the field of clean energy such as small hydropower, solar energy and wind power, etc., and provide suggestions on the development and management of clean and renewable energy for Belt and Road countries. It is believed that through the exchange platform provided by this seminar, the participants will learn about advanced technologies and valuable experience, promoting the sustainable development of energy in countries along the Belt and Road, and jointly coping with climate change.”
2. Seminar on Water Resources Management and Development of Ecological Small Hydropower for Belt and Road Countries
It was successfully held online from June 9th to June 22nd. There were 46 participants of government officials and technical experts from 7 Belt and Road countries including Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, Nepal, Pakistan, Rwanda and Peru. The seminar focused on topics related to water resources management and ecological small hydropower development. The representatives of the countries participating in the seminar expressed their willingness to cooperate deeply with China in the future and they were willing to stay in close contact and communicate with us extensively to carry out more pragmatic cooperation.
3. Seminar on Mitigating Climate Change with Clean Energy for Belt and Road Countries
It was successfully held online from July 6th to July 19th. There were 36 participants of government officials, technical experts and enterprise representatives from 7 countries including Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan and Zambia. The 14-day seminar was themed on the development and application of the clean energy as well as the climate change. Mr. Zheng Sheng’an, Secretary General of China Society for Hydropower Engineering, gave a video-speech at the closing ceremony.
4. Seminar on Small Hydropower and Green & Ecological Development for Belt and Road Countries
It was held successfully online from July 7th to July 20th. There were totally 34 participants from 5 countries including Azerbaijan, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Industry think tank experts, university professors and scholars, enterprise managers and technical experts were invited to give presentations on the topics of small hydropower and green &ecological development. The seminar shared advanced ideas, practical experience and mature technology in the related domain, providing the Belt and Road countries with China’ solution and experience in relevant fields.
5. Seminar on Green Energy and Sustainable Development of Urban Communities for Developing Countries
It was held online with success from July 21st and August 3rd. There were totally 83 participants from 18 countries including Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Iraq, Indonesia, Ghana, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Nigeria, Nepal, Pakistan, Sudan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Chad, Uzbekistan, Venezuela and Zambia. The seminar lasted for 14 days during which lectures on the development of green energy in China, the construction of green small hydropower, wind and solar power technology, and energy planning of smart low-carbon community were delivered. Online visits and culture experiencing were also arranged, which were highly praised by the participants. During the entire seminar, the attendance rate was high and the participants had heated discussions and spoke highly of the seminar.
6. Seminar on Water Resources Development and Water Treatment for Developing Countries
It was held successfully from July 27th to August 9th. 49 officials and technical experts from Ethiopia, Indonesia, Mauritius, Nepal, Nigeria, Rwanda and Sri Lanka attended the online seminar. Ms. Xu Jing, Deputy Director General of International Economic & Technical Cooperation and Exchange Center of Ministry of Water Resources, P.R. China addressed the opening ceremony.
Professors and experts including Mr. Hao Zhao, Secretary General of Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Center, Ms. Shi Qiuchi, former Director General of International Economic & Technical Cooperation and Exchange Center of Ministry of Water Resources, P.R. China, etc. were invited to give presentations on the topic of achievements, experience and practices related to China’s water resources management. Besides, online visits and cultural experience were carried out and the achievements of China’s water conservancy development and China’s water culture were shared to all the participants.
During the seminar, participants from various countries delivered country reports respectively on the topic of water resources development and water treatment, and carried out in-depth exchange on the future cooperation among participating countries and with HRC, laying a foundation for concrete cooperation in the near future.
7. Seminar on Exploitation and Development of Renewable Energies for the Dominican Republic
It was successfully held online from July 28th to August 10th. 12 experts from Dominican Electric Power Regulatory Authority and National Mechanism for Climate Change and Clean Energy Development Commission attended the seminar. Ms. Sun Qianyuan, Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in the Dominican Republic addressed the closing ceremony. She said that since the establishment of diplomatic relations of the two countries, they have strengthened their exchange day by day in the fields of economy, commerce, technology and culture. The seminar has provided both the participants and the Chinese side with a platform to explore new path to international cooperation in the field of renewable energy, strengthen the understanding of each other, promote the bilateral technical and economic exchange and deepen friendship.
This seminar is the first bilateral program that HRC has held for the Dominican Republic, which focuses on topics including low-carbon economy, sustainable development, clean energy development in China, as well as knowledge and experience in the development and construction of microgrid and IoT in the energy sector. Through technical lectures, online visits, cultural experience and other forms, the seminar well presented the development and achievements of clean energy in China including concrete experience and practices, cultivated technical personnel in clean energy for the Dominican Republic and built the bridge for cooperation between China and the Dominican Republic in the field of clean energy.
8. Seminar on Exploitation and Utilization of Water Resources and Treatment of Water Environment for the Republic of El Salvador
It was successfully held online from August 10th to September 9th. 50 government officials and technicians from Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Ministry of Local Development, Ministry of Public Works, Presidential Office, Lempa Hydroelectric Plant, National Administration of Aqueducts and Sewerage, the Mayor’s Office of Metapan and other Salvadoran entities participated in the seminar. This seminar has been the first international bilateral training program organized by HRC for El Salvador, and has received careful guidance and full support from the Chinese Embassy in El Salvador and the Academy for International Business Officials of the Ministry of Commerce. P.R. China.
Mr. Yao Ming, Economic and Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in El Salvador, attended the opening and closing ceremonies and delivered speeches. In his speech at the opening ceremony, Counselor Yao Ming said that the active participation of the Salvadoran side fully reflects the great importance that the government of El Salvador attaches to this seminar, as well as the willingness of the experts and people of the two countries to understand and learn from each other, which will enhance confidence to promote pragmatic cooperation between the two sides.
The seminar shared China’s concepts of water treatment, mature technology, practical experience and concrete measures and also displayed the positive results that China had achieved in the fields of the exploitation and utilization of water resources and water treatment, which deepened the understanding of the participants for China’s water conservancy industry and increased its international influence. In the same time, through the seminar, Chinese side also learned more about El Salvador’s top-level design, planning policies, institutional systems and challenges in the field of water resources management. After the program, Mr. Ruben Aleman, Director of El Salvador Water Authority issued a special thank-you letter for HRC. In the letter, he expressed his gratitude to HRC for organizing the seminar with success despite the difficulties including international time difference, language communication and unstable internet access. He also expressed the willingness of improving the exchange and communication with China in the domain of water resource and water environment treatment in order to deepen the pragmatic cooperation. He invited with sincerity the personnel from HRC to visit El Salvador in due course to carry out the on-site investigation and discuss about future cooperation.
9. Seminar on Water Safety Management
It was held successfully online from September 14th to September 23rd. During the 10 days, 27 participants from 6 countries including Iraq, Mauritius, Suriname, Turkey, Venezuela and Uzbekistan attended the seminar. Ms. Xu Jing, Deputy Director of International Economic and Technical Cooperation and Exchange Center of Ministry of Water Resources, P.R. China addressed the opening ceremony.
Experts from think tanks and research institutes, scholars from universities were invited to give technical presentations, sharing China’s achievements, technologies and solutions in the fields of water security. Online visits were organized via video to share with participants China’s famous water conservancy projects. Besides, HRC organized panel discussions during which the participants could have in-depth exchanges on the hot issues and the current situation of water conservancy in different countries.
The seminar built a platform for cooperation on water conservancy between China and other developing countries, sharing Chinese technology and standards, enhancing the sustainable development of participating countries in the field of water and energy and promoting high-quality development of Belt and Road cooperation.
10. Seminar on Rural Electrification and Poverty Reduction for African Countries
It was successfully held online from September 15th to September 28th. During the 14 days, 32 participants from 6 countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Rwanda, South Africa and Zambia participated in the seminar.
The experts and professors from China Society for Hydropower Engineering, Zhejiang University, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Biogas Institute of Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs and HRC were invited to shared China’s experience and technology as well as the positive role that electrification played in poverty alleviation. Online visits were organized, showing participants China’s well-known rural electrification demonstration projects and water conservancy poverty alleviation projects. Meanwhile, discussions were also arranged during which the participants had extensive and in-depth exchanges on hot topics of the field, energy development and potential cooperation.
11. Training Course on Dams and Hydropower Sustainable Development
It was successfully held from October 12th to 21st. During the training course, 63 participants of 13 countries including Cambodia, Egypt, Iraq, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Mauritius, Myanmar, the Philippines, Rwanda, Singapore, Vietnam and Sri Lanka attended the seminar. Mr. Wang Jinhua, Deputy Director of Foreign Investment and Economic Cooperation Department from Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province addressed the closing ceremony.
This training course focused on dam safety and sustainable development of hydropower of different countries and arranged technical lectures on dam safety law and regulations, safety management, dam safety testing and evaluation techniques as well as the development of dam information system, etc. Through the lectures, professional advice was given in the domain of dam safety and dam operation and maintenance. The participants also had discussions on the framework of the further cooperation and concrete paths. The participants including Director of Department of Energy Security Management of Ministry of Energy and Mines of Laos all spoke highly of the training course.
12. Training Course on Hydrological Monitoring and Flood Management for Developing Countries
It was successfully held online from October 26th to November 8th. 82 participants from 16 countries including Algeria, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Egypt, Ghana, Indonesia, Iraq, Kiribati, Laos, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, the Philippines and Rwanda attended the training course.
During the 14 days, the courses on hydrological station network planning, hydrological monitoring technology and equipment, water ecology and water environment monitoring technology and development, irrigation area modernization, flood prevention and warning, flood forecast, mountain flood disaster monitoring and warning and flood and drought disaster risk management, project safety monitoring, water quality control, water conservancy and hydrological standardization development, etc. were delivered. Online visits to Nanjing Research Institute of Hydrology and Water Conservation Automation, Quality Control Center for Hydrologic Instruments and Geotechnical Engineering Instruments of Ministry of Water Resources, Typical Hydrological and Water Quality Monitoring Station were organized. Also, the participants experienced from the video the traditional culture of Nanjing, a city that serves as capital for six times in the history.
13. Seminar on Energy Transition under South-South Cooperation
It was successfully held online from November 9th to November 29th,52 participants from 6 countries including Ethiopia, Kenya, Mongolia, Mozambique, Tanzania and Uzbekistan attended the seminar.
This seminar was aimed to share China’s advanced ideas, management experience and mature technology via Internet in the field of energy transition in order to help other developing countries cultivate the professionals and improve their self-development capacity. After building the platform and exchange the ideas, the international communication and exchange among China and other developing countries were strengthened. The friendship was enhanced and the common development was also promoted.
Experts including Mr. Wang Yiheng, Director of Zhejiang Energy Monitoring Center, was invited to give technical lectures to share China’s fruitful results, experience and practices in the field of energy transition. Online visits were organized to display to the participants the achievements that China has achieved in the practice of energy transition.
14. Seminar on Water Conservancy Technology for Developing Countries
It was held online with success from November 21st to December 11th. 79 participants from 8 countries including Bangladesh, Indonesia, Kenya, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan and Senegal attended the seminar. Ms. Wang Jinsu, Director of International Cooperation, Department of International Cooperation and Science and Technology, Ministry of Water Resources, P.R. China addressed the closing ceremony.
Professors and experts from International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage, International Economic and Technical Cooperation and Exchange Center of Ministry of Water Resources, P.R. China, Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Center, Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, China Research Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower, Dam Safety Management Center of Ministry of Water Resources. P.R. China, Nanjing Institute of Automation of Water Resources and Hydrology, Zhejiang Tongji Vocational College of Science and Technology were invited to give technical presentations on the topics of water conservancy.
At the closing ceremony, the participants expressed that they benefited a lot from the seminar and hoped that the Chinese government could organize more seminars of this kind through which more Chinese experience and technologies could be shared with other developing countries, thus promoting exchange, cooperation and development, contributing to the realization of the United Nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals.
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15. Seminar on Rural Energy and Environment for Developing Countries
It was held online successfully from December 1st to December 21st. 57 participants from 9 countries including Ethiopia, Nigeria, Nepal, Turkey, Sri Lanka, Mozambique, Rwanda, Pakistan and Zambia attended this seminar.
The seminar lasted 21 days during which technical presentations, discussions, online visits and cultural experience were organized. HRC invited industrial experts, professors and scholars from universities, researchers from institutions and technical experts from enterprises to share related knowledge with the participants. Additionally, through the platform of the seminar, the participants had in-depth communication on the current situation of rural energy exploitation and environment, development bottlenecks as well as the potential cooperation opportunities, laying a good foundation for further cooperation.
