In order to better understand the relationships between net primary production (NPP) of forest ecosystem and nitrogen cycling, we studied and analyzed the relationships between NPP, litter nitrogen, plant nitrogen retention, and soil net nitrogen mineralization rate in Chinese forest ecosystems. The results indicated that NPP was linearly and positively related to litter nitrogen, plant nitrogen retention and soil net nitrogen mineralization rate, with the most correlation with soil net nitrogen mineralization rate (R2 = 0.74, n = 37), and the next with plant nitrogen retention (R2 = 0.60, n = 37).