The thawing of the frozen Songhua River in northeast China, which was seriously polluted by a chemical plant explosion late last year, will not cause a second pollution as spring approaches, a top environment official of the country said here Saturday.

Zhou Shengxian, director of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), said at a press conference that China and Russia have reached the same conclusion regarding the water quality of the Songhua River, which flows into the Heilong River on the Sino-Russian border.

"Last night I received a most encouraging news from the Russian side, that they had reached the same conclusion as ours -- there will be no second pollution of the Songhua River this spring," said Zhou in response to the question of a Russian journalist.

The conclusion was based on the monitoring, test and analysis of more than 1,000 environmental experts, said Zhou.

"Our monitoring and study also showed that the fish in the Songhua River as well as the agricultural and dairy products from the areas along the river are safe to eat," Zhou told reporters.

Around 100 tons of pollutants containing hazardous benzene spilled into the Songhua River after a chemical plant explosion on Nov. 13 in northeast China's Jilin Province. It was one of the worst river pollution incidents since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.

The incident forced the cities along the river, including Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province and a city of more than 3 million people, to temporarily suspend water supply. As the pollutants also flowed into the Heilong River (Amur River in Russia), China and Russia carried out environmental cooperation to minimize the impact of the transborder pollution.

Zhou said at the press conference that the two governments have conducted "all-round" and "satisfactory" cooperation and "there is no difference on any issues" between the two sides.

The official said that his administration has worked out a detailed plan for the "long-term pollution control and prevention” of the Songhua River.

The plan will attach utmost importance to ensuring drinking water safety along the Songhua River, and will introduce a responsibility system for local governments and officials in protecting the river from pollution, said Zhou.

The plan is expected to be approved by the central authorities shortly, and the SEPA will publicize the plan's details through the media, including the exact amount of investment, he added.

More than 50 percent of China's 21,000 chemical enterprises are located close to the Yangtze and Yellow rivers, the two longest in the country, which indeed poses a serious threat to the environment, the official admitted while answering another question.

A latest comprehensive investigation in the enterprises found that many protruding problems, such as improper allocation and safety risks to the environment, and that some newly-launched industrial zones may become potential sources of pollution, according to Zhou.

Since the problems are left over by the past, resolving them will take some time, said Zhou, noting that the SEPA and relative government bodies are taking corresponding measures to tackle the issue.

Zhou, who replaced Xie Zhenhua last December to become the head of the SEPA, told the journalists that he would work hard not to follow the trail of his predecessor.

Xie, whose resignation was approved in early December, became the highest-ranking official to be removed from office for an environmental incident, as the Chinese authorities are increasingly aware of the danger of seeking economic development at the cost of environment, as well as the importance of boosting government accountability.

Xie's administration "failed to pay sufficient attention to the incident and underestimated its possible serious effect," said a joint circular released by the general offices of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and the State Council to announce the reshuffle.

As the causes of vital environment pollution incidents are quite complicated and many problems are left over from the past, it will take some time to resolve the profound conflicts between environment and economic development.

Zhou noted that China has reinforced the administration on environment protection since he took the post, vowing that he would take full advantage of the latest instruction initiated by the central authorities to protect the ecological system under the guidance of the scientific development concept.

"The instruction is a powerful weapon. I will not resign so long as I make good use of it," Zhou said with a smile, which aroused some laughs from the journalists present at the press conference.

(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2006)