The increasing adoption of cultivars with longer reproductive growth period offset the negative impacts of climate change and increased yield. Changes in temperature,precipitation and solar radiation in the past three decades jointly increased wheat yield in northern China by 0.9–12.9%, however reduced wheat yield in southern China by 1.2–10.2%, with a large spatial difference.Our studies better represented crop system dynamics using detailed phenological records, consequently better accounted for adaptations such as shifts in sowing date and crop cultivars photothermal traitswhen quantifying climate impacts on wheat yield