China and Israel are ready to conduct exchanges and cooperation in water-saving irrigation and water resources management, according to a memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed Tuesday.

The exchanges and cooperation will cover water resources technologies, management of ground and surface water, utilization of low-quality water, management of water resources under the condition of water shortages and concerned studies and training.

To this end, the two sides will exchange related information and data, send working groups to each other, receive trainees from each other and exchange experts in this field.

They will also hold training courses and symposiums, encourage enterprises of the two countries to jointly invest in the production of water-saving irrigation equipment, and set up model farms with water-saving irrigation technologies in China's rural areas.

Chinese Minister of Water Resources Wang Shucheng and Israeli Ambassador to China Itzhak Yaakov Shelef signed the MOU.

It is learned that China and Israel initiated some cooperative projects in water-saving irrigation in the past, and the signing of this MOU will be a basis for more extensive Sino-Israeli cooperation in this regard in the future.

(Xinhua 02/27/2001)