Nanning Mayor discusses ‘sponge cities’ with CRCWSC on official visit

The Mayor of southern Chinese provincial city Nanning visited the CRC for Water Sensitive Cities (CRCWSC) head office in late April to discuss low-impact stormwater management strategies.

Mr Zhou Hongbo, Mayor of Nanning, the capital of Guangxi Province, was welcomed to the CRCWSC by International Engagement Manager Jianbin Wang.

The Chinese delegation visited Australia to investigate Australian expertise in ‘sponge cities’, which aim to protect cities from flooding, reducing surface runoff and stormwater pollution, saving water resources and protecting the environment. Nanning is a pilot ‘sponge city’ in China, and has been awarded central government funding.

The Australian visit was supported by Austrade Guangzhou and involved business meetings with water management organisations and site visits across Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney.

Mr Zhou and the delegation were very impressed with Australia’s expertise in this area and hope to continue to learn from the CRCWSC to improve their stormwater projects.