[Objective] This study aims to propose and test a new land use classification system for remote sensing monitoring of soil erosion in Yellow River basin.[Methods] Based on the soil and water loss in different areas across the Yellow River basin, and with the national standard of land use classification and the standard of soil erosion classification by Ministry of Water Resources as a reference, we proposed a new land use classification system for remote sensing monitoring of soil and water loss in the Yellow River basin according to the scientificity, feasibility and integrity principles.[Results] We finally developed a classification system for land use including slope farmland, terraced fields, forest land and grassland, construction development land, check dam, sandy land and other land types. This classification system was validated in five counties and the results showed that the classification system was reasonable.[Conclusion] The land use classification system in this study not only had the same precision of soil and water loss evaluation results with the traditional classification system but also improved the efficiency of remote sensing monitoring of soil and water loss in the Yellow River basin.