[Objective] The evolution process of soil quality in apple orchard was investigated, in order to provide the basis for the management and development of apple orchard, the sustainable development of apple industry and the poverty alleviation in desertified area of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.[Methods] We selected apple plantations of 2 years, 5 years, 10 years and 25 years as the study sites, and the adjacent waste land as the control (CK), to investigate the changes of soil physical and chemical properties and their correlations. Soil comprehensive quality index was analyzed, in order to assess the soil quality.[Results] ① With the increase of plantation age, soil moisture content, electrical conductivity, total nitrogen, organic carbon, available potassium, available phosphorus and hydrolytic nitrogen all increased, while soil C:N and soil temperature all declined. Soil clay and silt, soil pH value and soil selenium content increased in initial stage and then declined, while soil bulk density decreased firstly and then increased subsequently, and the maximum value(peak or trough value) appeared at 10 years. There was no significant difference between soil porosity in different cultivation age of apple plantations. ② Soil coarse sand and soil clay and silt were negatively(p<0.01) correlated with soil temperature and soil C:N ratio, and there was a positive(p<0.01) correlation between soil moisture content, total nitrogen and organic carbon. In contrast, there was a positive(p<0.01) correlation between soil coarse sand and soil available potassium and hydrolytic nitrogen. Soil moisture content was negatively(p<0.01) correlated with soil temperature and soil C:N, and there was a positive correlation between soil total nitrogen, organic carbon, available potassium and hydrolytic nitrogen. Soil bulk density was a negatively(p<0.05) correlated with soil clay and silt, soil moisture content, total nitrogen and organic carbon. There was a positive correlation between soil nutrients, whereas there was no correlation(p>0.05) between soil porosity, soil selenium and other indicators. ③ According to the soil physical, chemical and nutritional indexes, the soil quality comprehensive index was ranked as:25 years > 10 years > 5 years > 0 > 2 years > CK.[Conclusion] The physical and chemical properties of soil can be improved by planting apple economic forests in Ningxia desertified regions for 5 years, and soil quality and soil selenium can be improved significantly in 10 years. With the increase of planting years, soil quality can be improved continuously in Ningxia windy desert area.