Abstract: Returning farmland to forestland or grassland has emerged as a major ecological construction project in China in recent years. The project has already registered substantial achievements since 1999. But the defects of the system have simultaneously put the central government at crucial crossroad. The engineering operation of the system has several obvious issues to address. In response to these issues, market competition mechanism via market-oriented ecological purchasing systems plays a crucial role in the project implementation. This effectively adjusts and completes the existing ecological compensation system through indirect government intervention. The design detail, building-up and fixed-price pattern of the market-oriented ecological purchasing system should therefore be simultaneously planned.