China produced more than 12 billion tons of industrial waste-water in the first half of 2006, up 2.4 percent from the same period last year, the China Daily quoted a State Environment Protection Administration report as saying.

A major index of water pollution called the chemical oxygen demand increased by 3.7 percent in the first six months, while emissions of sulphur dioxide rose 4.2 percent, the report said.

Acid rain, which affects almost one-third of the nation, also remained unchecked, it said.

The environment watchdog attributed the increased volume of pollution to the country's booming industries, as the economy steamed ahead by 10.9 percent in the first half of the year.

It said food-processing, paper-making and chemical plants accounted for more than 80 percent of the increase in the chemical oxygen demand level.

The watchdog said only 30 to 40 percent of public industrial projects had undergone environmental evaluations before they went ahead, and criticized local governments for not implementing strict environment protection policies.

"The quality of the country's overall environment remained unchanged or deteriorated in some areas," the China Daily quoted the report as saying.

The country has already failed to meet some of the key environmental objectives in its latest five-year national economic and social plan, it said.

In September, the state environment watchdog said pollution had inflicted economic losses of 511.8 billion yuan (65.8 billion dollars) on the country in 2004, or three percent of China's