Soil heavy metal (HM) pollution is a significant and widespread environmental issue in China, highlighting the need to quantify influencing factors and identify priority concern areas for effective prevention and management. Based on published literature data of soil HM concentrations from 2000 to 2022, this study investigated the pollution characteristics and spatial distribution of eight soil HMs in China, and identified the hotspot areas of HM pollution and related influencing factors. The main findings were as follows: (1) The average concentrations of all eight HMs all exceeded their respective background values, with Cd (I