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China's extensive pastoral lands cover about 4 million hectares of north and north-west China and both the lands and the people who occupy them are under increasing pressure as pastoral lands lose their traditional role as the major animal husbandry base. This pressure is already being manifested as livestock inventories rise as herders increase herds to compensate for falling returns. In addition, new needs for cash in the market economy and rising demand for red meat from urban dwellers puts additional pressure on agro-pastoral and agricultural regions. Greater grazing pressure is being exerted on smaller and smaller areas of pastureland as the government tries to implement more ecologically-based restoration methods that rely on fencing and grazing bans. The pastoral areas of China present a variety of problems that are both different and similar to those found in other areas. Resolving them will be difficult and will require policies sensitive to spatial and climatic variability. Because the ecological constraints are different from those found in other parts of China, new cross-disciplinary paradigms that account for interactions between local communities, the natural resource base, markets and the socio-political environment are necessary. This paper reviews the government response to the problems of rangeland degradation that are occurring among land users whose incomes hover around the poverty line. The legislative, regulatory and institutional framework has been reformed, and there is now recognition that management of pastoral lands requires cross-sectoral coordination and dialogue with land users. Finally, some ideas are advanced here, including land–related policy measures, on what can be done to enhance livelihoods, conserve biodiversity and protect land from further degradation.