The spatial distribution pattern of brownfields can help governments at all levels, and investors have more detailed information on land resources, prioritize brownfield redevelopment, and guide urban spatial and strategic planning. These are an increasing global concern, yet knowledge of brownfield distribution patterns of macro scales remains limited, especially in China. In this paper, we present the first comprehensive dataset of known brownfield sites and their distributions in China, derived from China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Web of Science (WOS), and Chinese Industrial Heritage List published between 2001 and 2019. The results showed that the dataset contained 816 Geo-referenced brownfield records in 255 cities. Brownfields were mainly distributed Southeast of the “Heihe-Tengchong Line”, with an overall spatial distribution pattern of “East-dense-West-sparse”. In terms of brownfields types, industrial brownfields were the most numerous, followed by mining brownfields. By applying the nearest neighbor indicator analysis, it was concluded that brownfields in China present significant spatial agglomeration characteristics, and that the six types of brownfields manifest different scales of spatial agglomeration. The hot spots were mainly concentrated in the Yangtze River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, and Pearl River Delta urban agglomerations. Factors influencing brownfield formation were related to industrial structure adjustments, resource depletion, accelerated urbanization, and the orientation of national policies, with industrial structure adjustments as the leading cause. Mastering the spatial pattern of brownfields can coordinate the planning of land use transformation and guide brownfield redevelopment.