BEIJING, April 21 (Xinhua) -- China will enhance hydrological information sharing and cooperation with countries along the Mekong River to jointly deal with climate change and flood disaster, a foreign ministry spokesperson said Tuesday at a press briefing.
Spokesperson Geng Shuang made the remarks in response to media reports that China's dams on the upper Mekong River have aggravated drought in downstream countries.
Reduced precipitation, abnormal monsoons and extreme El Nino are the main reasons for the drought, Geng said, citing weekly reports of Mekong hydrological data released by the Mekong River Commission Secretariat.
Originating from the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau in China, the river is called the Lancang River in China and the Mekong River when it flows through the lower reaches before emptying into the sea.
China's Yunnan Province, from where the Lancang River flows outside Chinese territory, has also suffered from a severe drought since last year, the spokesperson said, adding that China tried its best to guarantee a consistent water flow of the Lancang River.
Geng said during the fifth Lancang-Mekong Cooperation Foreign Ministers' Meeting in February, China announced that it would give positive consideration to share the full-year hydrological information with Mekong River countries, enhance cooperation under the sub-regional mechanism, and ensure rational and sustainable use of water resources.
Noting that the Lancang-Mekong River countries have already had a mature communication mechanism, Geng said they can resolve issues through sincere dialogue.
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