On 30 December 2013, China's Ministry of Land and Resources reported that the country has 3.33 million hectares of farmland that are too contaminated to use. Given that this amounts to 2.5% of total arable land in China, more clarification is needed on the nature, extent, location and degree of soil contamination.
China is planning to invest billions of dollars in soil remediation in the coming years. But first the Chinese government should release detailed soil-pollution data so that the problem can be better understood and the sources of contamination brought under control by legislation. For example, regulations should be put in place with regard to the dumping of sewage and industrial wastewater in rivers or on cultivated land, and then strictly enforced.
The government also needs to make clear who is expected to supervise soil remediation and management, and when and how polluted land can be decontaminated under current laws.
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Chen, R., Ye, C. Resolving soil pollution in China. Nature 505, 483 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/505483c
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/505483c
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