"We have informed the Russian side and supplied technical aid and necessary equipment. We are maintaining contact and close cooperation with the Russian side," Wen told reporters during a visit to the Slovakian capital of Bratislava.

"We have already taken effective measures, such as the reinforcement of monitoring and the river's warning system. We are also going to take effective steps to eliminate the pollution and assure drinking water for the population."

The prime minister, who was speaking at a short press conference after meeting Slovakian counterpart Mikulas Dzurinda, gave no other details about the status of the pollution moving down the Songhua river.

About 100 tonnes of cancer-causing benzene were spilled into the river after an explosion at a PetroChina chemical plant on November 13.

Russian officials believe the slick will reach the Amur, which forms the border between China and Russia above Khabarovsk, on December 15 and then approach the city towards the end of December.

Due to increasingly icy conditions, the speed of the slick flowing down the Songhua has slowed to about 20 kilometres (12 miles) a day.

Millions of people in the northeastern Chinese city of Harbin were without running water for several days after authorities shut down the public water supply.

All rights reserved. � 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.