China, Russia wind up 2nd river test since 2005 chemical spill

HARBIN—Chinese and Russian environmental researchers have winded up the second national-level joint test this year on water quality of the border rivers.
Researchers extracted samples at nine sites along the Ergun, Heilongjiang, Wusuli and Suifen rivers and the Xingkai Lake, and have finished lab analysis based on each country’s standards, sources with the State Environment Protection Administration (SEPA) said. Data were gathered on chemical oxygen demand (COD), contents of heavy metals, pesticides, riverbed mud to determine water quality in the cross-border water bodies.
The two sides have also exchanged statistics and will meet again in the near future to discuss specifics on what work needs to be done on which sections of the rivers.
It is second joint operation this year since China and Russia signed the Joint Monitoring Plan on Border Rivers in 2006, after an explosion at a Chinese chemicals plant sent nitrobenzene and other chemicals into the Songhua River that flows into the Heilongjiang in 2005.
The contamination forced Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang in China’s northeast, to temporarily stop water supply to 3.8 million residents. The plan requires both sides to operate the testing program for five years from 2007. The first such test was carried out in June this year.
Before the plan, joint river monitoring work had been carried out at lower levels between the Heilongjiang province and Russia’s Khabarovsk since 2002. The reciprocal Russia-China theme years, held in the two states since 2006, have contributed to the growth of bilateral relations, ranging from political to economic and cultural spheres, said a senior Russian diplomat on Friday.
“In fact, the project embraces all spheres of the Russian-Chinese relations: summit and high-ranking contacts, trade, economic and humanitarian cooperation, and inter-regional contacts,” said Konstantin Vnukov, director of the Foreign Ministry’s First Asian Department.
More than 200 events were held in the Year of China in 2007, which strengthened the Russian-Chinese friendship, he said, adding that Presidents Vladimir Putin and Hu Jintao have “lauded the project and agreed to make regular some of the most interesting events.”
“The main goal of the project has been achieved - the social foundation of Russian-Chinese friendship has broadened, and the countries’ images have improved in the eyes of the Russian and Chinese public, especially young people,” he noted. Commenting on the soaring bilateral trade and economic ties, Vnukov predicted that Russian-Chinese trade could reach 60 billion U.S. dollars in 2010.
“There is reason to believe that a 60 billion U.S. dollars landmark, designated by the leaders of the two nations, will be exceeded by 2010,” he said, noting bilateral trade will top 40 billion U.S. dollars this year.—Xinhua