"The central government is committed to achieving the (green) targets but some local governments have turned a blind eye to them," said He Bingguang, a deputy director with the National Development and Reform Commission.

He said the problem also could "indirectly hinder social harmony," in an apparent reference to rising social disquiet over China's worsening environmental degradation.

"The highest leadership has realised that if we fail in this endeavour, social harmony could be affected," He said.

China has set ambitious targets for curbing pollution and energy use per unit of GDP by 2010, but has already said it fell well off the pace last year, and He's comments underscore the difficulty in getting growth-minded regional authorities to toe Beijing's line.

The report did not specifically name any regions.

In another setback, the Beijing News said the introduction of a formula that would hold local officials responsible for environmental damage had been "indefinitely postponed."

The so-called "Green GDP" plan would deduct the cost of ecological harm from each region's economic growth data in a bid to encourage officials to better protect the environment.

Wang Jinnan, vice president of the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning, told the paper that China would continue to fine-tune the formula.

Top officials have previously said the plan was delayed by fierce resistance from local authorities.

A pilot Green GDP report said economic losses caused by environmental destruction in 2004 equalled 3.05 percent of the country's GDP.

China's booming economy has come at a huge environmental cost, with up to 70 percent of its waterways polluted and air quality in its biggest cities among the world's worst.

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