BBC Chinese reported that the Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection recently released a research report which indicated that 16.1 percent of China’s land and 19.4 percent of China’s arable land are polluted. The scope of the research on which the report was based was sizeable, covering two thirds of all land in Mainland China. The research showed that the three heavy metals of cadmium, nickel, and arsenic are the primary pollutants in China’s soil. The Ministry said in an announcement that it is very hard to remain optimistic about the quality of China’s soil. Both the government and the Chinese people are worried about the irreparable damage brought about by China’s rapid industrialization process. The government is in the process of coming up with more comprehensive environmental protection laws. The research report also concluded that there are three primary heavy industry regions that have suffered the most severe damage from pollution. They are the Yangtze River Delta Area on the east coast, the Zhujiang Delta Area in the south, and the traditional heavy industry base in Northeastern China.
Source: BBC Chinese, April 18, 2014
http://www.bbc.co.uk/zhongwen/simp/science/2014/04/140418_china_soil_contaminated.shtml