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Challenges and opportunities of German-Chinese cooperation in water science and technology

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Due to rapid economic development and population growth, China is facing severe water problems that include sea-level rise and increasing salinization, floods, water pollution, water shortage, soil erosion and ecosystem deterioration, as well as biodiversity loss. In recent decades, China is progressively more concerned with its water issues that are now at the center of social and political attention. Having to overcome similar challenges, Germany has taken a leading role in the field of water sciences and technology. In particular, China can benefit from the lessons learnt in Germany concerning the rehabilitation of water resources in areas heavily affected by chemical industry and mining after the reunification in 1989. German-Chinese cooperation in water sciences started over 25 years ago and dealt with increasing challenges in the 21st century. Following the open space workshop during the Water Research Horizon Conference in Berlin 2014, this article provides a view of some of the challenges and potential opportunities of German-Chinese cooperation in water science and technology.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstr.15, 04318, Leipzig, Germany

    Cui Chen, Erik Nixdorf, Michael Rode & Olaf Kolditz

  2. Technische Universität Dresden, Helmholtzstr.10, 01069, Dresden, Germany

    Hilmar Börnick, Peter Krebs, Yang Liu, Jin Zhang & Olaf Kolditz

  3. State Key Laboratory of Freshwater Ecology and Biotechnology, Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, No.7 Donghu South Road, 430072, Wuhan, China

    Qinghua Cai

  4. Tongji University, Siping Road 1239, Shanghai, China

    Xiaohu Dai

  5. Leibniz-Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries, Müggelseedamm 310, 12587, Berlin, Germany

    Sonja C. Jähnig

  6. Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beitucheng Xilu 19, Beijing, China

    Yanlong Kong & Zhonghe Pang

  7. German Aerospace Center, DLR, Oberpfaffenhofen, 82234, Weßling, Germany

    Claudia Kuenzer

  8. Karlsruhe Institute of Technology KIT, Campus Alpin, Kreuzeckbahnstraße 19, 82467, Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany

    Harald Kunstmann

  9. Institute of Geography, University of Augsburg, Alter Postweg 118, 86159, Augsburg, Germany

    Harald Kunstmann

  10. Institute for Applied Geosciences, Technische Universität Darmstadt, Schnittspahnstraße 9, 64287, Darmstadt, Germany

    Christoph Schueth

  11. China Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Dayangfang, Beiyuan 8, 100012, Beijing, China

    Yonghui Song

  12. Institute of Geographical Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Datun Road 11A, 100101, Beijing, China

    Tianxiang Yue

  13. Berlin Centre of Competence for Water, Cicerostr. 24, 10709, Berlin, Germany

    Kuangxin Zhou

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  1. Cui Chen
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  2. Hilmar Börnick
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  3. Qinghua Cai
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  10. Yang Liu
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  15. Yonghui Song
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  16. Tianxiang Yue
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  17. Kuangxin Zhou
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  18. Jin Zhang
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  19. Olaf Kolditz
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Correspondence to Cui Chen.

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Chen, C., Börnick, H., Cai, Q. et al. Challenges and opportunities of German-Chinese cooperation in water science and technology. Environ Earth Sci 73, 4861–4871 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12665-015-4149-5

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