Deeply inland, northwest China has a dry climate. Variations of lake area can reflect the temporal and spatial distribution of regional water resources to a certain extent. This data set is based on a comprehensive analysis of meteorological data and the actual coverage of Landsat satellite images to determine the interpretation time. Referring to A 1:250000 data set of lakes with an area above 1km~2 in China (2005-2006), the study selected 113 non-dry salt lakes with an area above 10 km~2 as vectorization objects, all of which are in natural conditions. The lake boundary vector data of 15 periods from 2000 to 2014 were extracted by using artificial visual interpretation. Abiding by the principle of artificial visual interpretation of lake area stipulated by the Ministry of Science and Technology, we controlled the accuracy of interpretation within one pixel. The data set includes three parts of data: (1) regional boundary vector data of northwest China; (2) lake boundary vector data from 2000 to 2014, and (3) lake location and area statistics vector data. The data set basically reflects the change in lake boundaries in northwest China from 2000 to 2014, which can be used as basic data for research on temporal and spatial changes of lakes in the region, climate change, and human intervention in regional water resources.