Charge amount, point of zero charge (PZC),point of zero net charge (PZNC),the relationships among the above surface charge properties, and the composition of 3 types of soil in central and southern China were studied. Results showed that: (1) From lateritic soil, red soil to yellow brown soil, the permanent negative charge amount (CECp) which chiefly relates to soil clay mineral composition tends to increase; whereas the variable negative charge amount (CECv) which mainly depends on Fe and A1 oxides content of the soils shows no obvious trends; the variable negative charge to total negative charge ratio and positive charge amount tend to decrease. (2) For the examined lateritic soil, red soil and yellow brown soil, PZC is 3.90, 3.35-3.50 and 2.96-3.12, respectively;PZNC for the examined lateritic soil and red soil is 3.85 and 2.15-2.84, respectively, For yellow brown soil, there is no PZNC.(3) Surface charge indexes of variable charge soils were suggested to be PZC>3.0, PZNC>2.0, PZC-PZNC<1.0 and CECv/CEC8.2>0.4 for the soils in central and southern China.