The authorities need to push ahead with a price hike, reflecting accurately the growing shortage of water in China and help plug further depletion of the resource, an official has said.

"We must set up a rational water pricing system adapted to the country's severe shortage of water. So some cities will face a sharp rise in water prices," Hu Siyi, vice-minister of water resources, told the Beijing Times on Sunday.

The average domestic water price in 36 large and medium-sized cities last year was 3.77 yuan (55 US cents) per ton, an annual increase of 4.7 percent, latest official statistics showed.