Water experts from China, Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh gathered in Beijing on Thursday to kick off a 10-day training session on flood control and disaster mitigation.

The workshop, hosted by China's Ministry of Water Resources, will cover courses on China's flood-control management, flood risk analysis and assessment, flood forecasting, reconstruction planning and technological application in renovation of irrigated areas, according to the ministry.

The session is aimed to boost cooperation in flood management technologies between China and South Asian countries, according to Wu Hongwei, an official with the ministry.

Wu said China has accumulated abundant experiences in its flood management efforts and it is ready to share them with its neighbors, adding the country had dispatched teams to provide consultations to Thailand when it was hit by floods in July this year.

The latest workshop follows one held last year on flood control along the Mekong River, which attracted experts from Myanmar, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam.

The Chinese Government attaches great importance to flood control management. It aims to ensure the safe flow of more than 5,000 rivers over the next five years, reinforce 5,400 reservoirs and speed up the construction of early warning systems for flooding and storm tides.

(Xinhua News Agency November 17, 2011)