Ecosystem function is the basis of human survival and sustainable development. Irrational socio-economic activities have caused serious ecosystem degradation in China and led to the overall degradation or even the loss of ecological functions in some region, which greatly diminishes their ability to play a role in supporting sustainable development. To remediate the deteriorating ecological environment and further the restoration and reconstruction of damaged ecosystems, our country has ratified and implemented a large number of ecological restoration projects, which play an important role in curbing the current trend towards ecological degradation, and in guaranteeing the ecological security of the region. However, the future prospects of the ecological environment of China are still not optimistic, and the overall trend of ecological degradation has not changed. The lack of regional ecological restoration planning is one of the most important factors behind the predicament of ecological restoration efforts in China. Ecological restoration, a long-term measure of basic ecological reconstruction, requires that overall planning and the long-term maintenance of specific arrangements be carried out at the regional level. However, regional ecological restoration planning has garnered little attention. This paper mainly discusses the connotations, theoretical basis, planning principles, and key problems of regional ecological restoration planning. Consideration of these factors is a key component of improving restoration efficiency and strengthening the scientific grounding of ecological restoration efforts. Based on surveys of the current status of both degraded ecosystems and restoration projects, and the identification of both key ecological problems at a regional scale and existing problems during restoration, regional ecological planning is carried out at a regional scale and centered on determining what, where, and how to restore a system. Therefore, regional ecological restoration planning produces an overall plan within which to develop specific restoration projects from the prospective of macro integrity. This guides the specific restoration projects within a region. The theoretical basis of regional ecological restoration planning comes mainly from the concepts of ecosystem services, ecological function regionalization, major function-oriented zoning, ecological carrying capacity, and restoration ecology. Regional ecological restoration planning principles include macro integrity, zoning regulation, dominant function, ecological suitability, and the combination of short-term target and long-term target. By integrating information about the nature and distribution of ecosystems, as well as ecological patterns and processes and the interrelationships of social, physical, and biological systems, regions can be classified into different zones of ecological function. The dominant ecological functions serve as the restoration goals of different ecological function zones. Generally, restoration should give priority to the relatively easy identification of ecological degradation and important ecosystem types (i.e., >25° slope-arable land, endangered species and ecosystem, important nodes and corridors in the region, ecological damage caused by resource exploitation and engineering construction, and important areas of ecological protection, such as the source areas of the water system, drinking water sources, and nature reserves). Besides these priority restoration areas, determine where to restore in different ecological function area on the basis of diagnosis upon degraded ecosystem. Through the combination of treatment strategies implemented at the local scale and regulation strategies implemented at the regional scale, the integration of ecological and industrial chains can be achieved, the essence of which is the coordination of the development of ecological construction and the social economy.