On January 14, 2020, East Africa launch and docking conference of the national key research and development plan（Key Program for International S&T Cooperation Project）"Sustainable Utilization of Water Resources of the Great Lakes Drainage Basin in East Africa and Integrated Management of the Lake Basins" led by Nanjing Institute of Geography andLimnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and hosted by Prof. Chen Shuang was held successfully in Mwanza City. Nearly 30 Chinese and foreign scientific research personnel from Nanjing Institute of Geography and Limnology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan University, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Tanzania Fishery Research Institution, Lake Victoria Fishery Organization and Lake Victoria River Basin Management Committee participated in the conference, which was chaired by Prof. Chen Shuang.

Prof. Chen Shuang, who takes responsibility for the project, firstly reported the overall objective, task arrangement as well as concrete content of the project to the specialists participating in the conference; and then, she put forward the main topics for discussion discussed in this conference, consisting of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Chinese research institutions and Tanzania cooperative scientific research institutions, the joint cultivation of doctoral students and master students related to the project, Mwanza research assignments as well as research work entrustment; later, the scientific research personnel present in the conference carried out an exchange and a heated discussion on the topic for discussion; in the end, a preliminary consensus was reached with regard to the signing of the memorandum, the joint cultivation of graduate students and the launch of the joint research.

The smooth convoking of the conference has achieved the docking between the Chinese side research institutions and the foreign side cooperative institutions, and laid a good foundation for the smooth implementation of the project.