Accurate quantification of gross primary production (GPP) at regional and global scales is essential for carbon budgets and climate change studies. Five models, the vegetation photosynthesis model (VPM), the temperature and greenness model (TG), the alpine vegetation model (AVM), the greenness and radiation model (GR), and the MOD17 algorithm, were tested and calibrated at eight sites in China during 2003-2005. Results indicate that the first four models provide more reliable GPP estimation than MOD17 products/algorithm, although MODIS GPP products show better performance in grasslands, croplands, and mixed forest (MF). VPM and AVM produce better estimates in forest sites (R-2 = 0.68 and 0.67, respectively); AVM and TG models show satisfactory GPP estimates for grasslands (R-2 = 0.91 and 0.9, respectively). In general, the VPM model is the most suitable model for GPP estimation for all kinds of land cover types in China, with R2 higher than 0.34 and root mean square error (RMSE) lower than 48.79%. The relationships between eddy CO2 flux and model parameters (Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI), photosynthetically active radiation (PAR), land surface temperature (LST), air temperature, and Land Surface Water Index (LSWI)) are further analyzed to investigate the model's application to various land cover types, which will be of great importance for studying the effects of climatic factors on ecosystem performances.