Characteristics of phosphorus adsorption on paddy soil and river sediment in East China were investigated through isothermal, dynamic and thermodynamic batch experiments. Results showed that Langmuir equation was optimal to fit the isothermal adsorption of phosphorus on paddy soil and river sediment. K values, the adsorption constants of phosphorus on paddy soil and river sediment, were 0.82 and 0.95 respectively, indicting that the river sediment had a higher potential in phosphorus adsorption than the paddy soil. There were two processes of phosphorus adsorption on both the paddy soil and river sediment, i.e., a slow and a rapid reaction process. The adsorption of phosphorus almost finished rapidly within 2 hrs on the paddy soil and river sediment, then became slow till to equilibrium. Within the same period, the adsorption rate of the river sediment was higher than that of the paddy soil. Elovich equation was optimal model to describe phosphorus adsorption dynamics. According to the results of thermodynamics, the temperature exerted a great effect on river sediment, and phosphorus adsorption reaction was more easily on the river sediment than the paddy soil.