A Sponge City and Climate Change Workshop was recently held at Nankai University in Tianjin. Experts and scholars from Canada, the UK and Vietnam attended the conference and discussed the development and construction of a sponge city, the use and management of water and the analyses of climate change.

Huang Jinhui, director of the Sino-Canada Joint R & D Center on Water and Environmental Safety, said the meeting aimed to use international advanced research results and creative resources to build Tianjin into a sponge city and a water sustainable demonstration region.

The center was jointly established by the Binhai New Area government, Nankai University, the China Association for International Exchange of Personnel and the Canada Water Science Association.

Since its establishment, the Binhai government has invested 5.25 million yuan ($790,000) into the center.