Abstract: To characterize accumulation and distribution of Zn in the soils of the Xijiang River Valley of Guangxi and to assess its ecological risk, 2 534 samples were collected of the soils in nonferrous metal mining areas, farmlands (paddy and upland fields) and natural land in the region, during a large scale survey carried out in the light of types of sampling sites and physical conditions of the region for analysis. Results show that the soil of the valley was 67.3 mg·kg^-1 in background value of Zn significantly higher than the soil of Guangxi Province as a whole. The mean concentration of soil Zn in the mining areas, upland and paddy fields was 2 134, 148.5 and 71.6 mg·kg^-1, respectively with the baseline as benchmark, about 77.3%, 7.56% and 3.59% of the soils in the mining areas, upland and paddy fields was above the norm, respectively. The soils in the mining areas displayed an apparent trend of Zn accumulation, and spatial distribution of soil Zn in the valley exhibited a moderate leveled autocorrelation affected jointly by structural factors and stochastic factors. The spatial distribution of soil Zn in the valley shows that the soils high in Zn pollution were concentrated mainly in the southern part of Nandan County of Hechi City, the soils light-moderate in Zn pollution, in Du'an County and Huanjiang County, the soils light in Zn pollution, in Dahua County, Luocheng County, Du'an County, Liucheng County, Wuxuan County, Jinxiu County and Xincheng County and the soils relatively free of Zn pollution in the rest of the valley. Generally speaking the soils in Nandan, Huanjiang and Du'an of Hechi and other areas concentrated with mining, smeltery and tailing dumping were very high in Zn pollution risk, while the soils in the other areas relatively lower in or free of Zn pollution. It is, therefore, recommended to strengthen supervision and to assess environmental and ecological risks and human health risk of soil Zn in those highly Zn contaminated areas, and take actions to control the risks when necessary.