Abstract: This paper developed a new interpretation symbol system for grading and classifying salinealkali land, using Huanghua, a cosatal city in Hebei Province as a case. The system was developed by inverting remote sensing images from 1992 to 2011 based on site investigation, plant cover characteristics and features of remote sensing images. Combining this interpretation symbol system with supervising classification method, the information on arable land was obtained for the coastal saline-alkali ecosystem of Huanghua City, and the saline-alkali land area, changes in intensity of salinityalkalinity and spatial distribution from 1992 to 2011 were analyzed. The results showed that salinization of arable land in Huanghua City alleviated from 1992 to 2011. The severely and moderately saline-alkali land area decreased in 2011 compared with 1992, while the non/slightly saline land area increased. The moderately salinealkali land in southeast transformed to non/slightly salinealkaline, while the severely salinealkali land in west of the city far from the coastal zone became moderately salinealkaline. The center of gravity (CG) of severely and non/slightly salinealkali land moved closer the coastline, while that of the moderately salinealkali land moved from southwest coastal line to northwest. Factors influencing changes in arable land within the salinealkali ecosystem of Huanghua City were climate, hydrology and human activities.