China plans to invest 26.6 billion yuan (3.28 billion U.S. dollars) to control the pollution of Songhua River in northwest China in the coming five years.

A conference on water pollution control in Songhua River Valley was held by the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) in Harbin, capital of northwest China's Heilongjiang Province on Saturday, according to a report of Beijing Youth Daily.

The pollution control efforts will cover the whole valley of the river, involving a population of 62.55 million in Jilin, Inner Mongolia and Heilongjiang, said the newspaper.

Protection of drinking water in large and medium-sized cities is given priority in the pollution control plan.

More than 90 percent of people living in the valley of Songhua River are expected to have clean drinking water by the year of 2010, according to the plan.

China's water pollution problem was underlined in 2005 by chemical spills into the Songhua River, into which tons of cancer-caused benzene chemicals were spewed following an explosion at a chemical plant.

SEPA officials said that on basis of advanced technology and with the participation of the whole society, China will put forward a national strategy in a bid to prevent and treat water pollution and protect water sources.

Source: Xinhua