BEIJING, Nov. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- China has informed Russia of the water pollution situation in the country's northeastern Songhua River, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said here on Thursday.

    Russia expressed appreciation of China's information, said Liu, adding that China will further strengthen the monitoring of the pollution situation and the level of pollutants in the river.

    China will inform Russia at any moment of the latest situation, to enable the latter to make quick and timely responses, the spokesman said.

    The Songhua River suffered a major water pollution incident as a result of an explosion on Nov. 13 at a petrochemical plant in Jilin Province, where the river originates. Benzene-like organic pollutants, harmful to human health, had flown into the river after the blast, with the swath of polluted water stretching about80 kilometers by Nov. 21.

    The blast of the petrochemical plant happened about 350 kilometer away from the China-Russia boundary. The Songhua River is a tributary of the Heilong River (called Amur River in Russia) on the border between the Russian far east and China. Enditem