China unveils early warning and data sharing website to cooperate with Mekong River countries
China made good on its promise to share year-round hydrological data on upper reaches of the Mekong River with the kickoff of an online information sharing platform on Monday. The platform aims to provide reliable forecasting and early warning services related to floods and droughts.
China extended its sharing to all five downstream countries – Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia – from November 1st. The data was mainly collected by two key hydrological stations located on the upper Mekong basin at Yunjinghong and on a tributary river at Manan.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang noted in August that China will work with other Lancang-Mekong Cooperation (LMC) countries to establish a Lancang-Mekong Water Resources Cooperation Information Sharing Platform to better tackle climate change and natural disasters such as floods and droughts.
The platform came on a difficult time when, by the end of 2019 and early 2020, the Lancang-Mekong river basin registered escalated floods and intense droughts, triggered by climate change.
Hu Yuwei Source
