Members of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) called for more efforts on prevention and control of soil pollution during a group deliberation of the State Council's report on the environmental conditions and the achievement of environmental protection objectives in 2021.

The participants agreed that the quality of China's ecological environment has significantly improved in general, but the foundation for a stable and sound ecological environment should be further consolidated.

Noting that soil pollution can pose a severe threat to grain production, Xu Shaoshi mentioned key soil-related challenges including excessive use of fertilizers, heavy metal contamination, groundwater over-exploitation, degradation of black soil in Northeast China, and residue of plastic mulch film in Northwest China.

A survey on soil pollution nationwide is needed, according to Sun Qixin, in order to get a comprehensive understanding of the distribution of main soil pollutants. He called for improvement in core assessment indicators for soil pollution control and systematical and comprehensive analysis on basic data of major pollutants.

Zhang Zhijun said efforts are needed to address groundwater issues in some regions,  such as over-exploitation and pollution. Other lawmakers also stressed the need to consider both water quality and quantity in groundwater conservation.

Li Yuefeng voiced concerns about the lack of a robust system for the recycling and disposal of retired electric vehicle (EV) batteries. Aging EV batteries recycled by unqualified workshops increase environmental risks, he said, underscoring the necessity to further enhance a recycling and disposal system and strictly implement technological and environmental standards. He noted that endeavors should also be made to guide large-scale enterprises with updated technologies to play leading roles in this field.