Abstract: China is undergoing an ever so rapid urbanization process with large area of farmland converted into construction land every year. Due to the fundamental role of farmlands in guaranteeing national food security and ecological safety, China has always been trying to guarantee sustainable development of rural landscape and farmland ecological services with non-equilibrium farmland protection policies. However, the absence of a complete system of compensation policies makes the farmland protection policies ineffective, thus causing the holistic welfare of the society to decline. Therefore, how to realize the shift from non-equilibrium farmland protection policy to equilibrium farmland compensation policy at the policy level, and build and consummate a farmland ecological compensation system, is an important issue to discuss for the nation to expedite the construction of ecological civilization. A review is presented from the following six aspects:definition of farmland ecological compensation,stakeholders definition and relationship analysis of farmland ecological compensation, standard of farmland ecological compensation, mode and pattern of farmland ecological compensation, trans-regional farmland ecological compensation and performance evaluation of farmland ecological compensation, in an attempt to summarize progresses and advancement achieved both at home and abroad in the research on relevant theories and dynamics of its development and implementation. Meanwhile the review also addresses shortages in the current research and directions for future research from the following three aspects:(1) Construction of farmland ecological compensation system; (2) Calculation of farmland ecological compensation standard; and (3) Trans-regional farmland ecological compensation. The review and summary may provide the government with some theories and references in designing and formulating a more complete and target-specific farmland ecological compensation system.