Abstract: Background Soil and water conservation involves agriculture, forestry, water, land, environmental protection and other departments as well as production and construction industries, the tasks related to it are arduous and relationships in the design of it are complicated, thus its top-level design is crucial. The top-level design of soil and water conservation means a complete set of solutions, i. e., building soil and water conservation planning system from top to bottom under the guidance of soil and water conservation plan, and ultimately achieving the established long-term strategic goals and tasks through continuous coordination of the various relationships and adjustment of programs implementation. Methods “National Soil and Water Conservation Plan (2015-2030)”was approved by the State Council in 2015, in which the objectives and tasks of soil and water conservation were defined. Accordingly in this paper, for the new situation and new problems faced by soil and water conservation, the characteristics of region, sector, and field in soil and water conservation is examined, the important relationships between central and local government, department and field, intra-regional and regional, economic and ecology, as well as preservation and utilization are scientifically analyzed. Results Countermeasures and suggestions of implementing the top-level design of soil and water conservation and implementing hierarchically National Soil and Water Conservation Plan (2015-2030) are put forward, focus is to establish mechanisms for coordination and cooperation between the relevant departments, to establish and improve the system of soil and water conservation in China, to implement the objectives and tasks of soil erosion control, and to improve and expand investment mechanism. Conclusions Soil and water conservation is a systematic project and a long-term strategic work. National Soil and Water Conservation Plan (2015-2030) is an important basis of implementing the law of PRC on water and soil conservation, and launching the soil and water conservation work in the coming period; it is also a solid development blue print and guide to action, has great significance for speeding up the pace of soil erosion control and promoting ecological civilization.