The Chinese Government has pledged to launch a national program on soil protection as part of ongoing efforts to improve the environment.

The pledge came out of an executive meeting of the State Council, China's cabinet, on October 31.

A six-year government-led study found that the country's soil has been vastly polluted by human activities in the industrial, mining and farming sectors.

The State Council decided to strictly protect the soil of cultivated land, bring pollutants under control, strictly monitor and control risks threatening the soil environment, and carry out programs to control and rehabilitate polluted soil.