CBBC Insights: Environment | China Issues Soil Pollution Act


Soil Ten

On 31 May, China’s State Council formally announced the long-expected new Soil Pollution Prevention Action Plan (also called Soil Ten). The new guidelines have been through several iterations since 2013 and complete the full set of Environmental Regulations issued by the central government on air, water and soil.

The action plan lays out ten headline actions split into 35 categories and 231 specific points that should help to achieve the target of making 95% of currently contaminated land fit to reuse either for agricultural purposes or for new urban developments. It sets aside RMB 450 billion (approx. £45 billion) to tackle the multitude of problems with polluted soil.

Soil pollution is China’s biggest concern as far as tackling overall pollution levels is concerned, as there is no industry geared towards cleaning contaminated soil.

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