Shanghai is an alluvial plain in the Yangtze delta. The main soil types are mostly swampy soil, meadow soil and coastal saline soil derived from alluvium of the Yangtze river. Variation of trace elements content in soils is mainly depended upon the different parent material. The range and mean value of the total content (in parenthesis) of trace elements in soils of Shanghai are as follows: Zn 20-102 ppm (65.5±11.0 ppm),B 20-76 ppm (52.6±11.8 ppm),Mo 0.3-2.0 ppm (0.75±0.34 ppm), Cu 11-38 ppm (23.0±4.6 ppm), Co 11-27 ppm (19.4±3.7 ppm), Mn 280-1076 ppm (540.7±127.7 ppm). The content of available trace elements varied greatly. The content of available copper of the soils in Shanghai (extracted by DTPA) was rather high with a mean value of 5.2±2.2 ppm. However the content of available molybdenum was very low with an average of 0.14±0.05 ppm (extracted by Tamm sol.).At the same time, there are a larger area of soils with lower or deficient in B, Co, Mn and Zn.Among the soil types mentioned above, coastal saline soil was higher in available B (0.82±0.30 ppm, extracted by hot water) and Mo (0.16±0.06 ppm), but lower in available Zn (0.82±0.42 ppm, estraeted by DTPA) and Co (0.34±0.18 ppm, extracted by 0.1 N HCl);the swampy soil was lower in available B (0.57±0.23 ppm),Mo (0.13±0.05 ppm) and Mn (122±49 ppm, extracted by 1 N neutral NH₄Ac+0.2% Hydroquinone),but was higher in available Co (1.09±0.38 ppm). The available content of B, Mo, Co, Zn in some meadow soils were lower. In recent years, more than 50 field experiments of trace element fertilizers in the suburbs of Shanghai revealed that B, Zn, Mn, Mo were effective to rape, wheat and vegetables in some soils.