Abstract: The sustainable intensification of cultivated land use represents a vital pathway to safeguarding food security and promoting green agricultural development, and its research progress and development directions have become a key interdisciplinary topic in the field of land science and agricultural science. Drawing on literature analysis, synthesis, and logical deduction, this paper systematically reviews research outcomes concerning the conceptual connotation, quantitative measurement, underlying mechanisms, and governance practices of sustainable intensification of cultivated land use. The results indicate that: (1) A preliminary consensus has been reached on its conceptual meaning, which emphasizes high-efficiency output together with resource conservation, environmental sustainability, and social equity, although the theoretical framework still requires integration of more interdisciplinary perspectives. (2) Research on quantitative measurement, focusing on four dimensions of productivity, economic, environmental, and social sustainability, shows a trend toward enriched evaluation content, more comprehensive methodologies, and diversified indicator systems, but challenges remain regarding limited temporal dynamics and insufficient applications at large spatial scales. (3) Cultivated land use exerts complex influences on ecological and socioeconomic systems, forming the core micro-mechanisms of sustainable intensification. Existing studies have revealed the interactive processes between land use intensification practices and both ecological and socioeconomic subsystems, yet exploration of the endogenous trade-offs and synergies within cultivated land system change remain inadequate. (4) Regarding the practices, China has piloted systemic projects such as conservation tillage, black soil protection, slope land management, and rehabilitation of low- and medium-yield fields, providing valuable experiences for global theories and practices of sustainable intensification. Future research should prioritize uncovering the evolutionary processes and driving mechanisms of sustainable intensification, broadening empirical paradigms and research scales, strengthening process-based measurement and simulation of cultivated land system change, and exploring practice-oriented pathways that integrate institutional policies, engineering technologies, and stakeholder collaboration in response to China's farmland protection and transformation needs.