Soil Quality in China – Policy Implications

This publication has been produced with the assistance of the European Union. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of ECRAN and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union. Executive summary • Soil degradation, including soil erosion, land desertification, soil salinisation, soil impoverishment and soil pollution, has become more and more serious in China. More than 40% of cultivated land soil is degraded due to soil and water loss, soil impoverishment and salinisation. • According to the data from remote sensing satellite, China currently has 3,570,000 square kilometres of eroded soil, accounting for 37.2% of its total land area. Annual average soil erosion amounts to 4.52 billion tons, accounting for approximately one fifth of total global soil erosion. • China has spent eight years in conducting the first nationwide survey on soil pollution during 2005 and 2013. Although methods of this survey are not publicly released, available data indicate that the outlook for the overall national soil environment is not good, with an overall 16.1% of selected soil samples polluted, 19.4% of arable land and 10.0% of woodland and grassland polluted. Also, heavy metal pollution is prevalent in south central and southwest regions. • The main reasons for soil pollution include waste gas, wastewater, waste residue discharge of industrial and mining enterprises, as well as inappropriate farmers' agricultural activities, eg sewage irrigation and overuse of fertiliser and pesticide. • Accelerated urbanisation along with industrialisation has further worsened soil quality. This situation could be worsened by climate change and other environmental degradation in China. • Land use and management practices greatly impact the direction and degree of soil quality changes in time and space. There is an urgent need for new soil management schemes. • Poor soil quality can affect human health, directly and indirectly, leading to more cases of malnutrition, more infectious diseases, more chronic conditions and cancer. Poor soil quality can further threaten food security, soil diversity and sustainable development in China. • Chinese government has only started to make efforts very recently in order to improve soil quality by developing national strategies, regulations and standards, aiming to gradually develop a national legal and quality standard system in order to achieve significant improvement in soil quality by 2020. • Limitations of current strategies and policies include a lack of a strong legal system to prevent and control soil pollution, insufficient …