Objective The thinned Chinese fir (Cunninghamia lanceolata) stands with different planting densities were used to explore the variation of growth dominance under different thinning treatments, so as to provide management strategies for cultivation and management of Chinese fir.

Method The data for this study were sampled from Chinese fir plantation in Nianzhu Forest Farm, Fenxi city, Jiangxi Province. The linear mixed effect model was used to illustrate the growth dominance in relation to age, accumulated thinning intensity, living number of trees per hectare and the interaction of these variables.

Result The growth dominance increased with accumulated thinning intensity, age, and living number of trees per hectare before or after the thinning. The negative value of growth dominance was not observed during the last observation. When the stands had the same living number of trees per hectare, the growth dominance increased with accumulated thinning intensity.

Conclusion The sparse planting density and sparse density management make the growth dominance closer to the value 0, which is beneficial for balanced growth of all sized trees, and increasing the yield of larger trees. The dense planting density and sparse density management can not only harvest smaller trees, but also increase the growth dominance and promote the growth of larger trees with the increase of accumulated thinning intensity, as a result of harvesting the large size trees.