as a worldwide problem, soil heavy metal pollution has a huge impact on human production and life. the world has invested a lot of manpower and material resources for environmental governance. environmental pollution control has a new breakthrough with the emergence of phytoremediation technology. phytoremediation, as a new technology, has the characteristics of low cost, more ecological and environmental friendly. this paper summarizes the mechanism of phytoremediation, the status of heavy metal pollution in china, and the application of phytoremediation in china. meanwhile, the discussion on the development of phytoremediation was also explored.