Unsafe drinking water in rural areas topped last year's environmental concerns, according to a report from a non-governmental organization based in Beijing.

About 320 million people, most of them farmers, still have no access to safe water, according to the recently released report themed "China's Environment in 2006: Changes and Struggles".

The report said farmers in northern areas suffer from water shortages, while in eastern areas water quality is not up to acceptable standards.

Government statistics show that 96 percent of villages have no sewage and waste water treatment system, while 89 percent handle garbage without proper sanitation treatment.

The report has highlighted polluting factories as the major contributor to the deteriorating environment in rural areas.

Lack of monitoring or investment in green technologies are also blamed for the poor state of the environment in the report.

But Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public & Environment Affairs, said apart from technology improvement, uncovering the companies which cause pollution should be the priority.

"This is not a matter for technology nor investment," he said. "It is about how to expose these polluters and get the public involved in the monitoring process."

The report was published by the Social Sciences Academic Press and the Friends of Nature, an NGO based in Beijing.

Covering four major topics society, ecology, water and forests the book is based on the opinions of independent experts including researchers, NGO volunteers and journalists.

"Views from the public serve as a complementary angle to what the government has done and remind us of what needs improving," said Yang Dongping, deputy director of the Friends of Nature and a professor at the Beijing Institute of Technology.

The English version of the report was published by the Brill Academic Press, based in the Netherlands.