Soil type database of China based on the second national soil survey is the most comprehensive soil data resource on the national scale. It embodies most soil types throughout the country in the 1980's, including distribution, area, characteristics, land-use and product performance of these soil types. Since 2000, the task of building the web based soil type database of China has been undertaken by Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences. An entity-relationship (E-R) data model was constructed which involved the spatial relationship between location and soil type, and the classification relationship according to Genetic Soil Classification of China. The database contains 2 473 typical profiles, 8 751 soil horizons and the corresponding physical and chemical properties. The database can be widely used for land degradation evaluations, environmental impact studies, and soil carbon sequestration studies. It also can be used as a basic data for agricultural practices.