loss and burned areas using Spearman's correlation. Forest loss increased significantly (264.8 km 2 a −1 ; R 2 = 0.54, p < 0.01) throughout China, with an average annual increase of 11.4% during 2003-2015. However, the forest loss trend had extensive spatial heterogeneity. Forest loss increased mainly in the subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest zone (315.0 km 2 a −1 ; R 2 = 0.69, p < 0.01) and tropical rainforest zone (38.8 km 2 a −1 ; R 2 = 0.66, p < 0.01), but the loss of forest decreased in the cold temperate deciduous coniferous forest zone (− 70.8 km 2 year −1 ; R 2 = 0.75, p < 0.01) and the temperate deciduous mixed broadleaf and coniferous forest zone (− 14.4 km 2 a −1 ; R 2 = 0.45, p < 0.05). We found that 1.0% of China's area had a significant positive correlation (r ≥ 0.55, p < 0.05) with burned areas and 0.3% had a significant negative correlation (r ≤ − 0.55, p < 0.05). In particular, forest loss had a significant positive relationship with the burned area in the cold temperate deciduous coniferous forest zone (16.9% of the lands) and the subtropical evergreen broadleaf forest zone (7.8%). These results provide a basis for future predictions of fire-induced forest loss in China.