The soil polluted by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) was taken as test samples, and four types of chemical oxidants were applied to remove 16 PAHs from the soil. Their degradation effects were compared to select the most effective oxidant to remove 16 PAHs, and then optimize the oxidation conditions for this oxidant. Based on the results, potassium permanganate, activated sodium persulfate, modified Fenton, and hydrogen peroxide proved to be effective for degrading PAHs, and the degradation rate was 94.06%, 82.79%, 81.15% and 72.91%, respectively. Specifically, potassium permanganate showed remarkable improvement in degradation efficiency compared with other oxidants. The degradation rate of potassium permanganate for each PAH was more than 80%, and the residual PAHs contents in soil were below the standard limit values. What’s more, the best remediation performance of potassium permanganate achieved 95.96% with oxidant dosage of 2.5 mols per 1 kg soil, liquid/solid ratio of 7.5, and the contact time of 48 h. The chemical oxidants are availible to degrade PAHs efficiently from contaminated soil, and potassium permanganate appears to have great prospects of application to degrade PAHs for its best performance on PAHs degradation.