BEIJING, April 24 (Reuters) - China needs to avoid America's "automobile addiction" if it is to create liveable conditions for people in its rapidly urbanising cities, Worldwatch Institute President Christopher Flavin said in Beijing on Tuesday.

China had a "great opportunity" to invest in public transport and discourage driving to avoid congested, car-dependent cities, Flavin said at the launch of the Chinese edition of the environmental group's "State of the World 2007" report.

"In the US most people now think of cars as an addiction rather than a love affair. We've now designed our cities in such a way with no public transport that we don't have a choice," Flavin said.

Washington-based Worldwatch Institute is an independent research body that reports on environmental, social and economic trends.

Flavin said that China's "obsession" with developing a world class automobile industry was understandable for economical reasons, but had the "potential to become very destructive."

"Most Chinese cities have a great tradition of using bicycles. I think it would be a shame to give up on that," said Flavin.

Despite large investments in public transport, soaring urban incomes have clogged the streets of major Chinese cities with new cars bought by China's burgeoning middle class. In Beijing, over 1,000 cars are registered every day.

Flavin said China's record on absorbing millions of migrant workers into its booming cities was "impressive" but said air and water quality remained serious obstacles to China's sustained economic development.

"There are estimates that as many 400,000 people die as a result of breathing polluted air every year," Flavin said.

Particularly in China's parched north, sinking water tables and drying-up rivers would lead to severe shortages that could affect the country's ability to continue to lift its urbanising populations out of poverty.

"Getting adequate clean water to people will become more and more difficult in coming years," Flavin said.

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