Citizens sent nearly one million mobile phone text messages urging the Xiamen government to abort work on a massive paraxylene (PX) plant because of the feared health and environmental impacts, Xinhua news agency said.

"The Xiamen city government has decided to suspend construction of the PX plant," the agency quoted Xiamen vice mayor Ding Guoyan as saying.

According to other reports, citizens were planning a protest rally on Friday to oppose construction of the plant, which Xinhua described as "highly polluting."

PX is a petrochemical used to produce polyesters, but it is also a potential carcinogen if humans come into contact with it.

Protestors had described the plant, which was already under construction, as a potential "atomic bomb", according to Xinhua.

Xinhua said 105 top advisors to China's National People's Congress, or parliament, also had voiced opposition to the project during a parliamentary session in Beijing in March.

Critics say that the plant, designed to pump out 800,000 tonnes of PX a year, is only seven kilometres (four miles) from downtown Xiamen and too close to residential areas and schools.

The 10.8-billion-yuan (1.4-billion-dollar) project, owned by a Taiwanese group, was approved by regulators last year and was already under construction.

Industrial pollution has emerged over the past three decades as a huge challenge for China, posing major risks to health and the environment, according to experts.

Pollution and exposure to chemicals in foodstuffs have sent cancer levels soaring in recent years, according to offical reports.

More than 70 percent of China's waterways and 90 percent of its underground water are contaminated by pollution, according to government figures.