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The pollution increases the risk of both drought and flood in different areas, as well as the shortage of drinking water, he said.

"Last year, water from half the tested sections of China's seven major rivers was undrinkable because of pollution," the official China Daily quoted Sheng Huaren, a leading official from the National People's Congress (NPC), China's nominal parliament, as saying in the annual report earlier this year.

Five of China's seven major rivers were "seriously polluted" and safe drinking water was a "major issue" in rural areas, the newspaper said.

According to the estimates of the ministry of water resources, more than 300 million rural residents have no access to safe drinking water, and some 190 million people, or 15 percent of China's population, drink water containing harmful contaminants.

In a separate report to the NPC in June, Vice-Premier Wu Yi said water pollution and pesticides had raised a food safety issue in China.

"In some places, vegetables and fruits are grown using polluted water, or harmful pesticides are illegally used," the newspaper quoted Wu as saying.

The estimated 100 tonnes of benzene polluting the Songhua river near Harbin, the capital of Heilongjiang province, leaked into the river after explosions on Nov 13 at a chemical plant in Jilin city, some 500 km upstream.

WWF said the leakage showed the need for China to overhaul safety procedures at chemical plants, and reduce the risks of chemical pollutants to people and wildlife.

"WWF is highly concerned about how the toxic spill in Heilongjiang province will impact the region's people and ecosystem," Li Lifeng, director of WWF China's Freshwater Programme, said in the WWF statement.

Li said China should ensure "improved regulation and monitoring of toxic chemicals, better risk assessment schemes to regularly check the safety of production procedur
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