Concentrations of black carbon (BC) were determined in the surface sediments from the inner continental shelf of the East China Sea (ECS). For comparison, the total organic carbon (TOC) contents, grain size distribution, concentrations of PAHs and DDTs in the sediments were also measured. Total concentration of BC ranged from 0.21 mg x g(-1) to 0.88 mg x g(-1), with the highest level in the depositional center of Yangtze-derived fine particles. Correlation was found to be insignificant between BC and TOC in the surface sediments, suggesting that they possibly came from different sources. The sediment particles showed significant spatial variations, whereas no significant spatial difference was found in BC content, indicating that the deposition process of BC was not controlled by particle size separation. In addition, a poor correlation between BC and PAHs or DDTs was reported in the estuarine-coastal sediments, probably due to the complicated hydrodynamic process and the heterogeneous sources of PAHs and DDTs.