Based on remote sensing and ecological principles, an estimation model of ecological capital was established in this paper. The estimation showed that the ecological capital of terrestrial ecosystem in China was 8.148, 10.86 and 12.44 trillion yuan (RMB) in 1992, 1995 and 2000, respectively. Forest had the highest value (24 673 yuan x hm(-2)), and followed by wetland (21 353 yuan x hm(-2)), both of which gave the most contribution to the ecological capital. According to its spatial distribution, the ecological capital of terrestrial ecosystem in China descended from east to west, and ascended from middle to northeast and south of this country, which was accordant with the vegetation distribution. Owing to the climate change and human activity, the ecological capital of Chinese terrestrial ecosystem ascended from 1992 to 2000, and the spatial distribution of its largest value moved obviously from north to south, with a total change rate of about 20%. However, the ratio between ecological capital and GDP descended significantly in the 1990s.