Abstract:In agricultural soils, the plant-derived input of carbon(C) from above- and belowground harvest residues and rhizodeposition is major source of soil organic matter. Thus, precise estimations of the harvest residues is important to monitor the supply of SOC in agricultural soils and model its future development under a changing climate. In this study, a new data bank of dry coefficient (DC), harvest index (HI), and root to shoot ratio (R/S) for rice, wheat, corn grain, soybean, cotton, and oilseed crops based on field samples collected across China from 2011 to 2012 was used. Combined with the information of county-level crop yield reported as national agricultural statistics, the amount of CSRE produced in 2001–2010 was estimated, and its spatial distribution was analyzed. The results showed that total 3.5 Pg C was produced in 2001–2010 in China’s cropland, mainly distributed in the Huanghuaihai region, the middle-lower reaches of Yangtze river and Sichuan basin of China. The mean county-level CSRE density was C 3.20 t/(hm2·a), ranging from C 0.01 to 9.32 t/(hm2·a). For the change of CSRE during 2001–2010, most counties had an ascending tendency. The Huanghuaihai region, north and middle part of the middle-lower reaches of Yangtze river, Northeast China and Sichuan basin showed obvious ascending tendencies with small annual fluctuation. The south of China showed an obvious descending tendency but also with the small annual fluctuation. The climate factors such as mean annual temperature and precipitation had no significant correlation with CSRE in China. The agroecosystem was greatly affected by human activities such as the cultivation method, cropping system and chemical fertilizer input.