Jujube (Ziziphus jujube Mill.) is a traditional economic forest crop and is widely cultivated in hilly areas of the Loess Plateau, China. However, soil desiccation was discovered in jujube plantations. Pruning is recognized as a water-saving method that can reduces soil water consumption. In this study, we monitored the jujube plots with control (CK), light (C 1), medium (C 2) and high (C 3) pruning intensities during the jujube growing period of 2012-2015 to explore the effect of pruning intensity on soil moisture and water use efficiency (WUE) of jujube plantations in the hilly Loess Plateau Region. The results showed that pruning is an effective method for soil water conservation in jujube plantations. Soil moisture increased with increasing pruning intensity during the jujube growing period of 2012-2015. C 1 , C 2 and C 3 pruning intensities increased soil water storage by 6.1-18.3, 14.4-40.0 and 24.3-63.3 mm, respectively, compared to CK pruning intensity. Pruning promoted soil moisture infiltration to deeper soil layer. Soil moisture infiltrated to soil depths of 240, 280 and >300 cm under C 3 pruning intensity, 220, 260 and 260 cm under C 2 pruning intensity, 200, 240 and 220 cm under C 1 pruning intensity, and 180, 200 and 160 cm under CK pruning intensity in 2013, 2014 and 2015, respectively. Soil water deficit was alleviated by higher pruning intensity. In 2013-2015, soil water change was positive under C 2 (6.4 mm) and C 3 (26.8 mm) pruning intensities but negative under C 1 (-20.5 mm) and CK (-40.6 mm) pruning intensities. Moreover, pruning significantly improved fresh fruit yield and WUE of jujube plants. Fresh fruit yields were highest under C 1 pruning intensity with the values of 6897.1-13,059.3 kg/hm 2 , which were 2758.4-4712.8, 385.7-1432.1 and 802.8-2331.5 kg/hm 2 higher than those under CK, C 2, and C 3 pruning intensities during the jujube growing period of 2012-2015, respectively. However, C 3 pruning intensity had the highest WUE values of 2.92-3.13 kg/m 3 , which were 1.6-2.0, 1.1-1.2 and 1.0-1.1 times greater than those under CK, C 1 and C 2 pruning intensities, respectively. Therefore, C 3 pruning intensity is recommended to jujube plantations for its economic and ecological benefits. These results provide an alternative strategy to mitigate soil desiccation in jujube plantations in the hilly Loess Plateau Region, which is critical for sustainable cultivation of economic forest trees in this region.