Abstract:Comparative analysis of LUCC between different regions was considered one of the three major research topics during 2000~2004 by IGU-LUCC. Comparison of LUCC between Fujian and Taiwan could be a good case for study because of their geographical proximity and historical and cultural similarity. Fujian and Taiwan had gone through and were in different economic development phases. By using the official statistics, quantitative changes in cultivated lands of Fujian and Taiwan were analyzed. The results showed that these two provinces seemed to have the same characteristics, i.e., increasing at first and then declining, and though some fluctuations were observed, the general tendency was declining. However, the phase of rapid changes in Fujian came somewhat later in the whole process of the economic growth, as compared with that in Taiwan. Besides, the cultivated land was decreasing at much lower rate in Taiwan. They were almost the same in terms of the change rate of acreage of cultivated land per capita but differed sharply in terms of acreage of cultivated land per farm laborer. In present study, major driving forces of the changes in cultivated lands of both provinces were analyzed for Grey Relevance Degree, with the following conclusions:(1) Agricultural restructuring, non-agricultural construction, disasters and reclamation were the direct driving factors that caused the changes in cultivated land. (2) The increasing demands for better living standards, and the development of the primary industry, constituted the first and the second indirect driving factors, respectively. (3) The level of the economic development could affect the scale and the efficiency of the land uses for non-agricultural purpose. (4) Exportation of farm produce had a greater impact on the changes in cultivated land in Taiwan than in Fujian. At the end of this article, the effects of economic policies and regulations for land management on cultivated land in different economic development phases were also analyzed.