Toward sustainable land use in China: A perspective on China’s national land surveys

China has long suffered from failures in urban governance, arable land conservation, and environmental conservation because of the lack of accurate and reliable land use data. To fill these gaps, China has been conducting a once-a-decade census of national land use status. On August 26, 2021, China released the third national land survey data, which revealed several challenges that require further attention. In this paper, we first review the land resource surveys that have been and are being conducted in the world’s major economically developed countries, and then we compare China’s three national land surveys in terms of the data used, core survey technologies, the land use classification system, and main outcomes. Second, according to the major data results of the second national land survey and the third national land survey and other auxiliary data, using such methods as the data envelopment analysis and the land cover conversion matrix to highlight the existing land use issues such as shrinking arable land, inefficient construction land use, and low targeting efficiency of ecological restoration programs, as well as the drivers of these issues. Finally, we conclude the paper by discussing the next steps necessary to achieve the goal of sustainable land use in China, and the potential of satellite remote sensing technology and its derived land cover products to better support future national land surveys.