In order to promote the effective implementation of the China-Korea Environmental Cooperation Plan (2018-2022), China-Korea Joint Seminar on Ecotourism and Ecosystem Services Assessment approved by the Department of International Cooperation under the Ministry of Ecology and Environment was successfully organized by Nanjing Institute of Environmental Sciences, Ministry of Ecology and Environment of China (NIES) in Kunming, Yunnan Province, on October 30, 2019, with the support of the China-Korea Environmental Cooperation Committee Project (K20-1). Mr. Guocai LIU, who is CPC Committee Secretary and Deputy Director General of NIES, attended the opening ceremony and delivered speeches. Experts and scholars from the China Office of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), IUCN China, Korea Environment Institute (KEI), China-Korea Environmental Cooperation Center, Changjiang Water Resources Protection Institute, Nanjing University, Yunnan University, Yunnan Minzu University and NIES participated in the seminar and conducted thematic discussions.

Mr. Guocai LIU extended a warm welcome to the delegates. He fully affirmed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) framework cooperation mechanism between KEI and NIES, and expressed satisfaction with the exchanges and cooperation between the two sides in the field of biodiversity and in situ conservation in the past three years. It emphasizes that China and South Korea have a broad space for communication and cooperation on the areas of biodiversity conservation, ecosystem service valuation, decision-making analysis and rational use of resources. Mr. Hyun-Woo LEE, the Department Director of KEI, sufficiently affirmed the cooperation and exchanges between the two sides based on the China-Korea Environmental Cooperation Committee Project and looked forward to deepening cooperation in the future.

In the lecture sessions, the experts exchanged views and conducted discussions on the ecosystem services assessment and biodiversity conservation and on the ecotourism and case study of targeted poverty alleviation. In the Round Table, Mr. Guocai LIU and Dr. Choong-Ki KIM, Division Director of KEI, conducted on-depth discussions on the contents of the renewal of the MoU on behalf of the two institutes and finally reached a consensus of it.

The successful conference not only promoted the exchanges between China and South Korea in the field of biodiversity, but also expanded the cooperation prospects between the two sides in the areas of ecosystem services assessment, water pollution prevention, as well as soil pollution prevention and treatment. This will have positive significance for the future cooperation between the two sides in the field of ecological environmental protection.