Abstract: Cultivated land is important for supporting the development of economy and society, and it is the key for the sustainable development of agriculture and rural economy. In this paper, the current situation and policy changes of cultivated land protection in China was reviewed. Then, protection of cultivated land was discussed based on the property right theory of new institutional economics, institutional equilibrium theory and the game theory of institutional supply and demand. It was concluded that the establishment of an effective property right system was the key to protecting cultivated land. The keys of institutional equilibrium of cultivated land protection were responsibility allocationandbenefit distribution. Local government and land use enterprises needed to take village collectives and farmers’ benefitsinto accountwhen occupy cultivated land to promote economic development.Based on the results, the authors put forward relevant countermeasures including improving the land property rights system and establishing the effective demand feedback systemto eliminate the rent-seeking behavior of the government at all levels and protect the benefits of farmers effectively.And central government should strengthen the supervision on the premise of ensuring institutional equilibrium. In addition, themethods and perspectives of this study would enrich the researches on non-agricultural cultivated land.