Since 2000, many cities in China have moved their large-scale manufacturing plants from urban to suburban or other less-developed regions. This inter- or intra-regional plant relocation not only leads to changes in land use patterns but also affects institutional, socioeconomic, and environmental issues both at the local and regional levels. We call this regional restructuring process land recycling, which creates critical energy, environmental,  financial, social, and political implications. Using Beijing to illustrate the impacts of land recycling, we also discuss  the land pollution-related changes and their implications for land and environmental policymaking.