The Foreign Ministry said on Friday that China has decided to provide Russia with the second batch of water testing and purifying materials to help combat water pollution.

 

These materials include two chromatographic instruments and 1,000 tons of activated carbon.

 

"China hopes that these materials, which are being transported to Russia, will help clean up the water," said the ministry's spokesperson Qin Gang.

 

Qin said since the pollution of the Songhua River took place last month, in a highly responsible and friendly spirit China has offered six pieces of water quality testing equipment and 150 tons of activated carbon to Russia in the shortest possible time.

 

"The move of China was welcomed by Russia," he said.

 

China's decision to provide more anti-pollution materials to Russia demonstrates its sincerity and determination to eliminate the water pollution, he said.

 

"We are ready to increase contacts and consultations with the Russian side and take effective measures to minimize the impact of the pollution," he added.

 

The pollution of the Songhua River was caused by explosions at a petrochemical plant on November 13 in northeast China's Jilin Province, which released benzene and nitrobenzene into the river.

 

The Songhua River joins the Heilong River that flows down to the city of Khabarovsk in Russia's Far East.

 

When asked to comment on a resolution passed by the European Parliament that advocates Hong Kong's universal suffrage, Qin said China strongly opposes any foreign intervention in Hong Kong affairs.

 

He said the Chinese government has always attached great importance to and actively supported the orderly and gradual development of Hong Kong's democratic system in accordance with the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) and its actual situation.

 

This consistent stand of the central government will never change, and the HKSAR government will also make unremitting efforts to this end.

 

(Xinhua News Agency December 17, 2005)