Abstract: To investigate chemical forms and the ecological risk of soil heavy metals in riparian zones, twelve soil samples were collected along the Huixi creek, Tongling City, China. Morphological distribution of heavy metals including Pb, Cu, Zn, Ni, Cr, Cd and As were determined by five steps of sequential extraction Tessier methods and ecological risk assessments were conducted by using the potential ecological risk index proposed by Hkanson. The results indicated that:① As and Cr were absolutely dominated by residual fractions, Zn, Pb and Ni were mainly composed of the residual and Fe-Mn oxide-bound, Cu with the residual and organic-bound, while Cd was controlled by various fractions. ②The order of pollution of the seven heavy metals was:As＞Cd＞Zn＞Cu＞Pb＞Ni＞Cr, while the order of the single potential ecological risk was as:Cd＞As＞Cu＞Pb＞Ni＞Zn＞Cr. The pollution extent and potential ecological risk of Cd and As were the most serious among all heavy metals. The ecological risk level of Cd and As belonged to extremely strong degree, Cu belonged to medium degree, while others belonged to slight degree. ③ According to the values of potential ecological risk index of different sampling sites, the Xiaoni village, the Langwei lake and the Dani village were at the level of the strong risk, while other nine sites were at the level of very strong risk. ④ In view of the contribution of each heavy metal to integrate pollution index and potential ecological risk index, it was suggested that both As and Cd were the priority metals in the metals-contaminated riparian zones along the Huixi creek.