Maize is an important crop for food, feed, and industrial raw materials, with a high nitrogen (N) fertilizer application rate but relatively low N use efficiency (NUE). In recent years, the form, rate, method of N fertilizer application and the variety and cultivation method of maize have changed in China. However, the changes in fertilizer N use efficiency of maize under this new situation remain unclear. Through a bibliometric analysis of 1, 216 trials on NUE for maize from 2000 to 2023, we investigated the spatiotemporal variations and potential driving factors of maize N use efficiency in China. From 2000 to 2023, the obtained results showed that the average apparent NUE, partial factor productivity, agronomic efficiency, and physiological efficiency for maize in China were 32.60%, 47.03 kg/kg, 13.01 kg/kg, and 38.50 kg/kg, respectively. As N application rates increased, these N use efficiency parameters showed a declining trend. When N application rate ranged from 180 to 240 kg/ha, relatively high maize yields and N use efficiency were achieved. The N use efficiency of maize in China exhibited significant spatiotemporal variations. In terms of temporal changes, since 2000, the trend in NUE for maize in China had shown initial decline from 2000 to 2010, followed by steady growth from 2011 to 2023. Currently, the N apparent use efficiency from 2016 to 2023 (37.12%) was similar to that of 2000~2005 (37.39%), while increased by 8.83 and 5.11 percentage points compared to the periods of 2006~2010 (29.29%) and 2011~2015 (32.01%), respectively. Regarding regional differences, the average apparent NUE was the highest in Northeast China (36.68%), followed by Northwest (33.27%) and East China (32.33%), and the lowest in North and South China (30.96% and 30.41%, respectively). Random forest analysis indicated that soil pH and organic matter were two main driving factors responsible for the regional differences in the apparent NUE. In conclusion, over the past 20 years, there has been significant spatiotemporal variation in maize NUE of China and a substantial increase in the maize NUE. Soil pH and organic matter are two main soil factors driving the differences in the NUE of maize.