[Objective] This paper studied the spatial characteristics of the influencing factors of cultivated land resource utilization at 35 prefecture-level cities in Hubei and He'nan Provinces from 2000 to 2015, in order toprovide reference for the protection and sustainable use of cultivated land resources.[Methods] Based on the statistical data of cultivated land resources at prefecture level in Hubei and He'nan Provinces, the relative changes of cultivated land resources were analyzed. Geographically weighted regression(GWR) model was adopted to analyze the spatial characteristics of socio-economic driving forces for the cultivated land resources changes, among which the analysis based on the residuals was emphasized.[Results] ① From the spatial pattern, the cultivated-land-reduction areas were mainly distributed in the eastern and southwestern regions. The cultivated-land-balance areas were concentrated in the central and northern regions. Most of the increased areas of cultivated land resources were distributed in the southeastern region. ② Cultivated land resources was positively correlated with local population, fixed assets investment and mechanization level of farming, and was negatively correlated with GDP. ③ The high residual values appeared in the cultivated-land-balanced area and the increased area. The low residual values were distributed in the cultivated-land-reduction area and the balanced area with smaller amplitude change.[Conclusion] Protecting cultivated land should adopt corresponding adaptive measures in different regions according to the spatial characteristics of the influencing factors.