Based on the current soil fertility level from previous investigations, the controlled release formulated fertilizer (CRFF) was developed for wheat in East China, and its effects on wheat yield, soil nutrient balance and nutrient use efficiency were studied. For CRFF treatment once application was adopted to save fertilization labor, and the results showed that nitrogen was reduced by 12.5%, phosphorus by 10%, and potassium by 6.7% while the winter wheat yield remained stable, which resulted in the increase of nitrogen use efficiency by 6.20% as well as the increase of the nitrogen productivity by 20.4% while kept soil fertility level. Furthermore, the nutrient balances demonstrated that both nitrogen and phosphorus were over input with about 50%, while potassium input was less input with about 10%. Therefore, it was indicated that the CRFF could be further optimized for the winter wheat in East China, and the nitrogen input could be further reduced by 10%–15% and phosphorus by 20%–30% while potassium increased by about 10%, thus the dosage of fertilizer input rates were recommended as 180 kg/hm²–190 kg/hm², 80 kg/hm²–90 kg/hm² and 90 kg/hm²–100 kg/hm² for nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P₂O₅) and potassium (K₂O), respectively.