Abstract: The potential for exploiting arable land in low hilly red soil region of Lanxi, Zhejiang Province was evaluated based on the technique of remote sensing and GIS. Terrain, soil and land use pattern were considered in the assessment system. The integrated evaluation indices were computed based on these factors, and the results were then grouped into four grades. The assessment results showed that the arable lands with feasible, permitted, limited, and unallowed exploiting potential were 3151.53, 8790.71, 8840.64 and 35175.25 hm2, respectively; slope and land use had high correlation coefficient with exploiting potential; in the region with the slope of ≤6°, 6～15° and 15～25°, the arable land with feasible exploiting potential accounted for 50.57%, 43.36% and 6.07%, and the permitted arable land accounted for12.67%, 42.59% and 44.75%, separately. Sparse forest and orchard mainly constituted the arable land with feasible exploiting potential, and their total areas occupied 74.68%; orchard mainly composed that with permitted exploiting potential, and its area occupied 82.33%; and the arable lands with feasible and permitted exploiting potentials were lopsidedly distributed in town regions. Compared with the ground truth, the assessment results were acceptable.