Mr. Liu Zhiguang, Counsel of MWR, addressed at the Ceremony

President Zhang Jianyun addressed at the Ceremony

Mr. J. H. Dronkers, Director General of RWS, spoke at the Ceremony

Unveiling the memorial stone

Bourdrez family members and Mr. Roland van den Berg, Chairman of the Stele Foundation, at the Ceremony

Commemoration Ceremony

On the afternoon of May 28, 2015, Commemoration Ceremony of Sino-Dutch Water Cooperation was grandly held in NHRI in memory of three Dutch engineers who made important contributions to the development of China’s water science in 1930s to 1940s and to the building of the Hydraulic Experiment Lab of Nanjing Hydraulic Research Institute, originally called China Central Hydraulic Research Institute.

Chinese participants attending the Ceremony include Mr. Liu Zhiguang, Counsel of MWR, Prof. Zhang Jianyun, President of NHRI, Prof. Liu Heng, Vice President of NHRI, Prof. Li Yun, Vice President of NHRI, Prof. Dou Xiping, Chief Engineer of NHRI, Prof. JiaJingsheng, Vice President of China Institute of Water Resources and Hydropower Research, Prof. LuoXiangsheng, Deputy Director of Bureau of International Cooperation, Science and Technology of the Yangtze River Commission, Prof. Sun Feng, Deputy Director of Bureau of International Cooperation, Science and Technology of the Yellow River Commission, Prof. PengShunfeng, Director of Department of International Cooperation, Science and Technology of the Huaihe River Commission, and Prof. JiaGenghua, Director of Department of International Cooperation, Science and Technology of the Taihu Lake Authorities.

Dutch participants attending the Ceremony include Mr. J. H. Dronkers, Director General of RWS, Mrs. Anne teVelde, Dutch Counsellor for Infrastructure and Environment, Mrs. AnnekeAdema, Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Shanghai, Mr. Roland van den Berg, Chairman of the Stele Foundation and Former Dutch Ambassador to China, and 8 Bourdrez family members.

Prof. Li Yun, Vice President of NHRI, and Mrs. Anne teVelde, Dutch Counsellor for Infrastructure and Environment, jointly chaired the Ceremony. The participants totaled 111.

Mr. Liu Zhiguang, Counsel of MWR, Mr. J. H. Dronkers, Director General of RWS, Mrs. AnnekeAdema, Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Shanghai, Prof. Zhang Jianyun, President of NHRI, Mr. Roland van den Berg, Chairman of the Stele Foundation and Former Dutch Ambassador to China, addressed at the Ceremony respectively.

Mr. Vincent Chang, a Dutch historian, made an introduction to the three Dutch engineers.

Mr.FransRoderikBourdrez, grand-son of Mr. Francois J. M. Bourdrez, representing the Dutch Stele Foundation, presented the memorial stone to President Zhang Jianyun, who, together with Mr.FransRoderikBourdrez and Nr. Roland van den Berg, unveiled the stone.

As an important component of the commemoration activities of the 80th anniversary of NHRI, the Ceremony was organized with rich contents. All the participants learned the history of Sino-Dutch friendship and cooperation in as early as 1930s, and recalled the cooperation activities since the reform and opening to the outside world. A memorial stone symbolic of the Sino-Dutch friendship was given to the Chinese side.

All this reveals that the Sino-Dutch friendship and cooperation are real and fruitful. This is just as what President Zhang said in his speech:” The Ceremony will further promote the Sino-Dutch cooperation  and help speed up the building of NHRI into a world-class research institute so as to make still greater contributions to the development of water resources management, transportation and energy development in China.”

Brief Introduction of Three Dutch Engineers

In 1930s, quite a few Chinese people with lofty ideals advocated learning Western science and technology and spared no efforts to establish water science institutions, thus initiating China’s modern scientific researches on water-related issues.

 In January 1935, the then Chinese government set up the Central Hydraulic Research Institute in Nanjing, the earliest national hydraulic research complex in China.

At the end of 1931, at the request of the then Chinese government, and arranged by the League of Unions, Mr. Francois J. M. Bourdrez (1901-1939) came to China and worked as the consultant for road and water infrastructure construction for the Chinese government.

During his tenure in China (1931-1939), Mr. Bourdrez worked day and night for the harnessing of the Yellow River, the Yangtze River, the Huaihe River and the Yongding River, and for road construction, etc. He made proposals to establish hydrological stations and networks, and set up a specialized hydraulic research institute in China. He persuaded the relevant government agencies to use part of the Dutch-returned “Boxer Indemnity” (about 400,000 in then Chinese currency) for the establishment of the Central Hydraulic Research Institute in Nanjing.

Mr. Bourdrez worked successively with other two Dutch engineers, Mr. Maurits Alma (1903-1985) and Mr. N. A. Van den Heuvel (1901-1963), for the preparation and construction of the Central Hydraulic Research Institute. Mr. N. A. van den Heuvel, invited and hired by the then government, worked as technical consultant of the institute from 1935 to 1943. The construction of the Hydraulic Experiment Hall in the institute and the provisional hydraulic laboratory in the Central University in Nanjing consumed much of the energy and time of Mr. Bourdrez and Mr. van den Heuvel. During the war against Japanese invaders, requested by the Chinese government, Mr. Bourdrez and his Chinese colleague Mr. Zhang Jiong, engineer of the institute, acting as interpreter for Mr. Bourdrez, boated on the Jinsha River to explore navigable waterways. Unfortunately, the boat was wrecked on May 10, 1939, and as a result, Mr. Bourdrez, Mr. Zhang Jiong and a boatman died at their posts.