Abstract: Aiming at important challenges faced by Chinese agricultural production, including increased fertilizer application without yield increase, excessive soil nutrient accumulation, over-application of chemical fertilizers and declining nutrient use efficiency, this paper reviews the historical development and research advances into soil and plant nutrient management in China. It discusses the need for Chinese plant nutrition research not only to follow international cutting-edge research advances but also closely combine Chinese agricultural production practices to contribute to the sustainable development of agriculture by significantly improving both nutrient use efficiency and crop yield.