Chinese, Russian officials hold talks on coping with cross-border river pollution

HARBIN, Nov. 28 (Xinhuanet) -- The China State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) Vice Director Zhang Lijun held talks Monday night with the Russian Delegation of Khabarovsk Environmental Protection Bureau on dealing with the pollution of the cross-border Songhua River.

The talks included the impact that the polluted Songhua River will have on the Heilongjiang River, the border of the two nations, and the cooperation that China and Russia will make to monitor and test the quality of their border river.

Zhang, once again, expressed apologies on behalf of the Chinese government for the bad influence that the polluted Songhua River will bring to Russia.

The official also reported in detail to the delegation the related information of the river pollution, including the sorts of pollutants, the density and the location of the pollution belt.

He said the SEPA will report the latest information concerning the quality of the Songhua River to Russia in line with the instruction of Premier Wen Jiabao.

V. V. Dardiuk, director of the delegation, expressed gratitude toward China's reports and discussed his country's coping measures.

He said Khabarovsk has cooperated with Heilongjiang Province in the border river quality monitoring and testing for four years and believes that the problem will be settled through mutual efforts.

The delegation arrived at Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang on Monday morning