IE-Expo Shanghai is the equivalent of IFAT-Munich and has been co-organized by Messe München every year since 2010. In addition to the actual environmental technology trade fair, an extensive scientific and technical accompanying program takes place in each case, in the context of which this year's symposium "Innovative Technologies and Application on Water & Sludge Treatment & Management" was held. The focus of the event was on the presentation of the technologies and technology approaches developed in the German-Chinese water research projects, whose German project partners are funded by the BMBF within the framework of CLIENT II and whose Chinese project partners are funded by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) within the framework of the Mega Water Program. The symposium's presentation topics ranged from water resource protection to drinking water supply to wastewater and sludge treatment, reflecting the diversity of research content (link to symposium agenda: c.ie-expo.com/site/scheduledetail/288). Due to the pandemic, no German project partners were able to attend the event, so it was held as a hybrid event with both face-to-face and video lectures (Figure 1).

The lively audience participation (Figure 2) highlighted the continued high demand for innovative environmental technology solutions in China.