XI'AN - Northwest China's Shaanxi province paid 6 million yuan ($953,000) to two cities in neighboring Gansu province as a reward for their conservation efforts on a shared river.

The funds, split down the middle by Tianshui and Dingxi on Friday, were the first interprovincial ecological compensation ever made in China, Yang Yonghui, Tianshui's environmental protection chief, said Saturday.

"It's a positive and pioneering approach in curbing pollution on the Weihe River," he said.

The 818-km Weihe River, the longest tributary of the Yellow River, originates in Gansu province and flows past major industrial cities in Shaanxi, including Baoji, Xianyang, Xi'an and Weinan.

The river has been seriously polluted over the past two decades, as a result of waste discharges from paper mills and other high-polluting plants. Despite years of efforts to curb pollution, the Weihe River remains the Yellow River's most polluted tributary.

The two provinces set up an environmental protection alliance in early December, vowing to curb pollution and save the river. The alliance includes six cities - Dingxi, Tianshui, Baoji, Xianyang, Xi'an and Weinan.

According to their deal, an upper stream city should consult its downstream neighbors before applying for a project with water pollution risks.

Meanwhile, the cities will keep each other informed in case excessive pollutants are found in the water, and cities on the upper stream must take compulsory measures to curb pollution to minimize harm to cities in the lower reaches.

According to Wang Xinrong, deputy environment chief of Shaanxi province, the 6-million-yuan compensation was a reward for the two upstream cities' conservation efforts.

"It's also a signal that the government of Shaanxi is determined to significantly improve river ecology within three years," said Wang.

Compensation has become a widely-accepted practice in curbing pollution in China, as the conflict between economic growth and environmental woes escalates.

In the first three quarters of this year, Shaanxi's three leading industrial cities - Xi'an, Baoji and Xianyang - paid 89 million yuan in compensation for polluting the Weihe River.

The fine, which has been in place since January 2010, enters a special account of the provincial treasury. About 60 percent of the total is appropriated to local governments at the end of the year as an environment preservation fund.