As an important part of terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle, net primary productivity (NPP) of vegetation reflects the productivity of vegetation and land surface condition directly, and it is also of great significance for the research of global climate change. In order to understand better the spatio-temporal pattern of NPP of terrestrial vegetation and explore the spatial heterogeneity of its response to climatic factors in China over recent years, we simulated the national vegetation NPP from 2001 to 2015 by integrating LPJ-GUESS dynamic vegetation model, MOD17A3 NPP data and HASM method. We analyzed the spatial and temporal distribution pattern of NPP and its correlations with climatic factors in nine subregions according to the climate soil texture characteristics. The results indicated that: (1) The average NPP of vegetation in China showed obvious spatially heterogeneous distribution. Overall, along hydrothermal gradient, the average NPP gradually increased from northwest to southeast over the past 15 years, and the minimum NPP of vegetation appeared in the desert which located in the northwest of China and the central of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, with the values less than 100 g·m~(-2). The NPP of vegetation in the transition zone from the northwest to the southeast coast was 300-600 g·m~(-2), whereas the NPP values of vegetation in most parts of Sichuan Basin, the parts of Hainan Province and northeast plain were above 700 g·m~(-2). (2) The average NPP of vegetation in China ranged from 1.9 to 1 131 g·m~(-2)·a~(-1) in 2001-2015, and the annual national average of NPP was 376 g·m~(-2)·a~(-1). The Qinghai-Tibet area took up the largest proportion (both 23%) of both area and the amounts of NPP of vegetation in China. The Gansu-Xinjiang region accounted for 23% of the country's land area, but only 10% of the country's annual average NPP. The southwest and northeast China and the middle-lower reaches of the Yangtze River were rich in vegetation, and the annual NPP proportion was greater than the corresponding area proportion of the country. Other areas and the annual total NPP accounted for a similar proportion of the country. (3) Over the past 15 years, 65.29% of China had an increasing trend of NPP with the maximum value of 72.64 g·m~(-2)·a~(-1) and the average value of 2.29 g·m~(-2)·a~(-1). The parts of Qinghai-Tibet, Loess Plateau, most of Hainan Province and the northern part of Taiwan Province had the maximum growth rate. And (4) there was a significant positive relationship between annual average NPP and annual total precipitation, taking 79.26% of the whole China, while only 8.71% of China showed a significant positive correlation between the annual average NPP and the annual average temperature, which was distributed in some regions of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.