The Chinese continent is a mosaic of cratons of varying sizes and orogenic belts of different ages. The plate-tectonic evolution since the Paleozoic can be roughly divided into three stages: (1) divergence and convergence stage of continental and oceanic crusts in the Paleozoic; (2) transformation stage of soft collision of plates in the Carboniferous-Permian; and (3) basin-range development stage in the Meso-Cenozoic. The polycyclic development of the Chinese plate tectonics gave rise to three types of composite basins: craton superimposed on foreland, depression superimposed on rift, and newly formed basin superimposed on the remnant. The large superimposed basins with a long history of inherited development possess rich hydrocarbon resources and are key targets of on-land petroleum exploration in China. Depressions with rich hydrocarbons control the distribution of petroleum in petroliferous basins. Polycyclic development of basins and concentration of various types of organic materials led to the richness in oil and gas in China's on-land regions. The very thick gas source rocks, high gas-generating potential and excellent and persistent cap rocks as well as late-stage reservoir formation are important conditions for the formation of large gas fields. The vibrating development of large lake basins and frequent transgression-regression lake waters resulted in the alternation and lateral contact of source rocks and reservoir rocks, which formed three types of oil-bearing reservoirs in composite sheet architecture. The polycyclic plate-tectonics evolution and repeated superimposition of basins made the pa-leotemperature field become the key factor in controlling the formation and distribution of on-land reservoirs in China. The later-stage intense deformation has also influenced hydrocaron distribution and increased the difficulty in petroleum exploration.