China Africa Water Association (CAWA) is an officially registered non-profit organization in South Africa, which is aimed at advancing and promoting the exchange and cooperation between China and African countries in water resources management and water related environment protection. CAWA was founded in 2013 by a group of water scientists from Africa and China, led by then UNESCO Professor Yongxin Xu of Geohydrology based at the University of the Western Cape.

    The current Chairperson of CAWA: Dr. Harrison Pienaar from CSIR in South Africa, Vice-Chairpersons: Prof. Jianhua Cao from UNESCO Guilin International Karst Center of China Geological Survey, Prof. Dedi Liu of the Wuhan University in China and Secretary-General: Prof. Yongxin Xu. The Secretary-General is designated to manage the organization. The Secretariat has branches at University of the Western Cape in South Africa and the Hebei University of Engineering and the other institutes in China. Within the CAWA framework, the Youth League and the Centre for Popular Water Related Science Education were also established.

    Within the Young League under CAWA (YLCAWA), Prof. Dedi Liu of the Wuhan University in China and Prof. Ranya Aly Amer of the African Urban Scientific Research and Technology Application in Egypt serve as Co-Chairs, and Dr. Jiabo Yin of the Wuhan University in China serves as the Secretary General. Furthermore, a platform to promote the exchange of ideas, research and international cooperation among young premising scientists from China and Africa in water science and technology is built by YLCAWA, with a particular focus on promoting the application of hydrology and hydrogeology in research and application. At the same time, the League offers water science-related technical guidance to young scientists in both China and Africa from time to time.