Rice is the most important staple crop in China, and paddy field is one of the largest sources of anthropogenic CH₄ emissions in the world. To produce more rice with less CH₄ emission can contribute a great to ensuring national food security and carbon neutral objectives in China. Since different cultivars and planting practices lead to great differences in rice yield and carbon emission, an insight into the characteristics and trends of cultivar renewal and technology improvement can provide significant references to future innovation of rice planting technology for higher yield with less CH₄ emission. Therefore, we compared the characteristics and trends of China’s rice cultivar renewal and planting improvement as well as their impacts on carbon emission from 1960s to 2010s. Over the decades of 1970s—2010s, summarily, rice yield increased by 37.0% while total carbon emission at area-scaled increased by 12.2%, resulting in a significant decrease in yield-scaled carbon emission by 18.1% due to cultivar renewal, planting technology improvement and chemical input increase. Based on a scenario of ensuring food security, China’s carbon emission of rice production will decrease by 17.0% in 2030s as compared to the baseline of 2010s if all of the cultivar renewal, irrigation regime, chemical fertilizer reduction and cropping system adjustment can be comprehensively optimized, with the greatest potentials existed in rice planting improvement and chemical application with less rate and high efficiency. The results can provide great references to ensuring sustainable rice production and the actions of carbon emission peaking and carbon neutral in China.