China shuts 1,300 metal firms since 2016 in soil clean-up

BEIJING/SHANGHAI: China has shut more than 1,300 heavy metal enterprises since 2016 as part of a long-term plan to curb widespread chronic soil pollution, an environment ministry official said on Friday.

Soil pollution is one of China's biggest and most expensive environmental challenges. The last nationwide survey in 2014 showed that around 16% of its land - an area the size of Mongolia - was contaminated to varying degrees by fertilizers and pesticides, heavy metals, plastic and other chemicals.