【Objective】 The aim of this study is to investigate the spatio-temporal changes of cropping types in Northeast China since 1980.【Method】 In this study, the SPAM-China model was used to simulate the spatial information of crop distribution by 10 km pixel. A new definition of cropping type was used in this study that is over 30% or rank in top three in pixel per crop. And spatial analysis method was used to analyze the cropping pattern and transfer matrix method was employed to detect the variation of cropping types. 【Result】 The results indicate that (1) priority choice of crop in this region has shifted from corn > soybean > wheat >rice to corn > soybean >rice >wheat since 2000. (2)In the past thirty years, 14 kinds of cropping types were found in Northeast. The proportion of six kinds of rice types increased from 8.30% to 18.64%, which was distributed in Liaohe Plain, Songnen Plain and Sanjiang Plain etc. Seven kinds of maize types accounted for over 60%, which was the most common crop in central and west of NEC. Five kinds of soybean types reduced by 4.2%, which has shifted from a dispersal pattern to a concentrated pattern and was located in Heilongjiang province. The proportion of seven kinds of wheat types dropped from 26.82% to 3.17% and it was the most significant change type in the structure of cropping system. Now, only a few pixels are distributed in Nenjiang, Heilongjiang province. (3) Three changes of cropping types were classified by crop transition, reclaimed land planted with new crops accounted for 20.91%, and the main planted crop is rice; single cropping type changed to two or more crops combination type, accounting for 34.90%, most of the crops are rice and soybean; the combination of cropping types changed to single cropping types accounted for 41.36%, large part from maize planting area. 【Conclusion 】 Over the past 30 years, corn and soybean played a dominant role in the spatial variation of cropping types, and rice has become an important type of crop, meanwhile, the planting area of wheat was reduced in many regions and now is only confined in Nenjiang. There is also a phenomenon that soybean shift from south of Northeast to north. Cropping structure adjustment could be firstly started from reducing single corn type and increasing soybean and rice combination, which is a basic way to understand food security and food supply pattern. These findings will supply support for decision-making in agricultural structure adjustment and adaptation to climate change in Northeast China.