Paddy soil as a typical stagnic anthrosols,its soil fertility plays an important role on the high quality and productivity of rice.The fertility evaluation is very important to the fertility improvement and management of paddy soil.However,the selections of the assessment index and method for paddy soils still remain unclear.Thus,in this study,the characteristics of fertility evaluation methods and the effects of different factors on evaluation index were analyzed.Meanwhile,the research progress on the fertility evaluation of paddy soil across China was discussed.The evaluation method should minimize the human subjectivity.Meanwhile,how to integrate crop yield into soil fertility comprehensive evaluation system is worthy to be further discussed.In order to comprehensively evaluate soil fertility of paddy soil,the soil bulk density,total porosity,soil aggregate and clay content could be classified as the main factors of soil physical fertility index.The evaluation indexes of chemical fertility of paddy soils were different with the various fertilization strategies,tillages,and rice planting regions.Among the most important soil biological indicators,the microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen,enzyme activity and microbial community structure were identified as the main indicators.The relatively complete,representative evaluation index system and objective,simple,practical evaluation method should be established for typical fertilization and tillage models in different rice cropping areas in next step to provide reference for soil fertilization technology that aim at high yield and good quality of rice.