Increasing populations are causing an increase in food demands, and the area of cultivated land expands every year. Inappropriate land transition from ecology to production results in the constant decline of the ecological security level and influences the regional sustainable development. Adjusting unreasonable land use mode and reconstructing natural land cover are important ways to maintain and improve the ecological environment. Also reclaiming farmland as areas for forests and grasslands (FRFG) is another way. Successful implementation of FRFG in China is the result of comprehensive effect of the multi-scales driving forces.This paper analyses the driving forces of FRFG in China on a national (country) -regional (province) - local(county) - household (farmer) level scale, and the results are: driving forces at the national scale include ecological and food security and the western development of China;at the regional scale, ecological and economic benefits become the main factors to influence the dimension of FRFG under the same policy. The driving forces can be divided into 6 types: industrial structure adjustment,water source protection, flood prevention, the Three-Gorge Project protection, reduction of the amount of sediment flowing into the Yellow River and wind erosion desertification prevention. The driving forces at the local scale can be divided into 12 types with developing leading industries, increasing farmersincome and improving agricultural production conditions as the main types; at the household scale, the national policy meeting farmers demands and the optimization of individual interests are all driving forces.