Eco-efficiency has become the important index for measuring sustainable development which emphasizes the double dividend,including economic growth and environmental protection.This paper evaluated the eco-efficiency of China form 1978 to 2013 based on modified Ecological Footprint (EF) model which divided the traditional EF into biological needs,resource and energy consumption and environmental pollution.The results indicated that: 1) The per capita EF in China was increased from 0.836hm2 in 1978 to 5.561hm2 in 2013; 2) The eco-efficiency increased from 0.046×104yuan/hm2 in 1978 to 0.754×104yuan/hm2 in 2013; Analysis from the point of view of biological efficiency,resource and energy efficiency and environmental efficiency,the main limiting factor of eco-efficiency was the resource and energy efficiency; 3) "Weak decoupling" was the main characteristic during the study period; "Weak coupling" and "Strong coupling" were the main characteristic in the 80s and 10th Five-Year Plan period (2001-2005).Hence,the decoupling elasticity overall shows a W-shaped curve.