Almost 40 percent of pollution control projects in the Songhua River basin listed in a State Council plan have been completed or are well underway, according to an environmental watchdog official.

"Eighty-four out of 222 pollution control projects approved by the State Council in August last year in a five-year plan for Songhua River pollution control, have been finished or are in the middle of construction," said the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) official.

A combined investment of about 13.4 billion yuan (US$1.76 billion) is needed for the 222 projects, including treating industrial pollution sources and urban sewage and building recycling equipment, he said.

Three northeastern provinces shut down 42 factories failing in pollution control in the Songhua River valley in the first six months, reducing the pollutant discharges by about 6,327 tons in terms of the chemical oxygen demand, the official said.

Environmental authorities of China and Russia took samples from the Heilongjiang, Wusuli, Ergune and Suifen rivers and Xingkai Lake across the border for tests from June 10 to 25 and Aug. 14 to 25 under the first joint operation since the two countries signed the Joint Monitoring Plan on Border Rivers in 2006.

They would analyze the samples separately before exchanging data and comparing results at the end of next month, SEPA sources said.

Experts will examine the chemical oxygen demand, contents of heavy metals, benzene, and pesticides, riverbed mud, and other indices to determine water quality. Both sides are required to operate the testing program for five years from 2007.

Northeastern China's Heilongjiang Province and Russia's Khabarovsk have been conducting border river monitoring since 2002 in an effort to ensure water quality and improve environmental protection.

An accident at a chemical plant in northeastern China sent nitrobenzene and other chemicals into the Songhua River, the largest tributary of the Heilongjiang, in 2005.

The contamination forced Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, to temporarily stop water supplies to 3.8 million people.

(Xinhua News Agency September 1, 2007)