China is trying to minimize the impact on Russia's Far East of the toxic benzene spill in the Songhua River, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday. Liu Jianchao told a regular press conference in Beijing that both the Chinese and Russian governments attach great importance to the incident and hope it does not cast a shadow over China-Russia relations. "China will take into consideration the concerns and interests of the countries downstream of the rivers whenever it takes action in the upper stream," said Liu. A blast at the China National Petroleum Corporation Jilin Petrochemical Company in Jilin Province on November 13 sent an 80-kilometer-long slick of benzene into the Songhua River. It flows through China's Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces and then into Russia's Far East. The spokesman reaffirmed that China will try its best to take all measures to reduce the possible negative impact on Russia. China also welcomes cooperation with international organizations, he said. The water quality in Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, was reported to be normal yesterday. Harbin's 400,000 primary and secondary school students will be back at school today, probably bringing bottled water from home after a weeklong break caused by the cutoff. The city's education bureau has requested schools to buy quality drinking water for children or tell them to bring bottled water from home to ensure safety. Schools must have their water supply and storage systems cleaned and sterilized, the city ordered. All primary and secondary schools in the urban areas of Harbin suspended classes on November 23 out of the fear that food supply and sanitation could not be guaranteed during the water cutoff. Harbin, a city of 3.8 million people, experienced a four-day water shutdown. The State Environmental Protection Administration suggested yesterday that residents should not eat fish from the Songhua River for two months since it was poisoned with cancer-causing benzene. "The sedimentation of nitrobenzene may accumulate in fish bodies and it would be safer to stop eating aquatic products in the river," said Zhang Lijun, vice director with the State Environmental Protection Administration. Zhang said that his administration would soon organize an expert team to conduct a water pollution assessment of the Songhua River and submit an ecology recovery plan. The front of the pollution slick on Songhua River is expected to arrive at Jiamusi city, downstream from Harbin on Saturday, local environment authorities said yesterday.

(Xinhua)