[Objective] This paper aims to investigate the spatio-temporal changes in the patterns of cultivated land use in China and its 31 provinces (excluding Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan) from 2009 to 2015 so as to provide a scientific reference for promoting China's cultivated land protection policy and regional sustainable development.[Methods] The methods of grain supply-demand balance and ecological footprint analysis were employed to account for the cultivated land budget based on food safety and ecological security. In addition, the safe operating space for cultivated land utilization in China was discussed based on the China's ecological redline policy and the planetary boundaries framework.[Results] The budget of supply and demand of China's cultivated land was generally in disequilibrium, with surplus in central and northeast of China and deficit in southeast of China. From the perspective of ecological footprint, the cultivated land use in China was in deficit. The provinces with high deficit coefficient were mainly located in the central and eastern regions of densely populated and economically developed provinces, while a few surplus provinces were mainly distributed in south and southwest of China. Following the planetary boundaries framework arguing that the maximum permissible percentage of global land cover converted to cropland was estimated at 15%, together with China's redline of cultivated land protection, the safe operating space for cultivated land use in China could be ranging from 1.20×10⁸ hm² to 1.44×10⁸ hm².[Conclusion] More attentions need to be paid on the determination and variation of safe range for cultivated land at multiple scales. The food safety and ecological security could assist decision makers in developing regional-specific policies for sustainable use of cultivated land.