Northeast China's Shenyang City, capital of Liaoning Province, has transported 1,000 tons of drinking water to Harbin, capital of neighboring Heilongjiang Province, according to the information office of the Shenyang municipal government Thursday.

Shenyang is the first city that Harbin turned to for help after its source of drinking water was contaminated by benzine Tuesday.

The Shenyang government immediately called on some drinking water plants and transportation departments to act on the urgent requirement.

At 11 p.m. on Tuesday, the first truck with 500 boxes of mineral water started off for Harbin. Another two special trains, loaded with 60,000 boxes of drinking water, left Shenyang on Wednesday.

On Thursday morning, the Harbin municipal government expressed its thanks over the telephone, saying that they now have adequate water in stock.

The water transported to Harbin was offered by eight big-name local companies for free and the quality is guaranteed, said Wang Jingjie, an official with Shenyang commercial bureau.

(Xinhua News Agency November 25, 2005)