BEIJING — The Ministry of Finance has issued a circular to encourage provinces to set up funds for soil pollution prevention.

The funds will mainly be used for agricultural land soil pollution prevention and other matters stipulated by the government, said the circular.

The circular encourages provinces facing soil pollution challenges to set up such funds and explore effective fund management methods.

The funds should operate following the market principles and each investor should clearly stipulate the income treatment and loss burden methods in accordance with the principle of "benefit sharing and risk sharing," it said.