China is to launch a giant water pollution control project involving billions of yuan, said the environment watchdog on Friday.

It will be the country's largest environment-related scientific research project in terms of investment, said Zhou Shengxian, head of the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), at a national conference.

The project will develop technologies to ensure drinking water security, limit environmental deterioration of river valleys, and control water pollution in cities, Zhou said.

It is also expected to specify the impact of water pollution on economic and social development, he added.

The lack of water resources has impeded China's sustainable development and also threatened people's subsistence. Statistics show that per capita water resources in China are only one third the world's average.

Ninety percent of waterways that flow through China's cities and 75 percent of the country's lakes are polluted.

More than 300 million of China's rural population are denied access to clean potable water.

Experts predict that rapid economic and social development will further worsen the water supply situation in the next five years, making the control of water pollution a critical challenge for China.

(Xinhua News Agency August 19, 2006)