EU-China Round Table calls for dialogue at civil society level in water management

STOCKHOLM, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- The Sixth Meeting of the EU-China Round Table on Wednesday ended with a joint declaration calling for a dialogue at EU-China civil society level in water management.

The Round Table recommends increased cooperation between the EU and China in improving water use efficiency, waste water discharge and purification and river basin management.

"We discussed water and sustainable development as well as European China social dialogue. We had a very interesting exchange of views, held open discussions and reached conclusions in our declaration," Sukhdev Sharma, president of the EU-China Follow-up Committee of European Economic and Social Committee told Xinhua at the end of the meeting.

Sharma said the declaration shall be presented to political leaders at the forth coming EU-China summit to be held in November.

The meeting is conducive to people-to-people friendship and mutual understanding between China and EU, said Li Xueming, vice secretary-general of China Economic and Social Council.

"We had a good discussion on Economic and Social Rights in China and the EU, which we can learn some good practices from the EU while sharing our own experiences. It is a good mechanism to exchange views and improve mutual understanding," said he.

Both sides have agreed that the seventh meeting of the China-EU Round Table will take place in Chongqing in April 2010 and focus on two issues: Water resources and sustainable development and children's rights.

The Round Table was co-established by the China Economic and Social Council and the EU Economic and Social Committee in accordance with the Joint Statement of the 9th China-EU Summit released in Helsinki in 2006.