AbstractUnderstanding how multiple ecosystem services interact, how trade‐offs emerge, and how interactions among ecosystem services may change after the Grain‐for‐Green‐Program (GFGP) and is critical for managing multiple ecosystem services. Here, we conducted a spatiotemporal approach to quantify the impact of large‐scale afforestation on four key ecosystem services (i.e., crop production, soil conservation, carbon sequestration, and water conservation). We observed that three satellite datasets (i.e., GIMMS‐LAI3g, GIMMS‐NDVI3g, and NDVI‐ESTARFM) time‐series show a slightly improved and significantly improved trends, and crop production, carbon sequestration, soil conservation, and water conservation have improved after the implementation of GFGP. Simultaneously, almost 49% of the low levels and 58% of the high levels for all four of the ecosystem services considered changed after the implementation of GFGP. The results also show that relationships among ecosystem services have shifted from a trade‐off in 1988 and 1999 to an apparent synergistic relationship in 2011.We conclude that GFGP is a successful programme for addressing trade‐offs between services. Our study provides experiential support for large‐scale restoration programme in humid area around the World.