Abstract: Soil carbon sequestration is widely considered to improve soil quality, safeguard food security, and mitigate climate change. The integrated rice-Azolla imbricata cropping is a traditional rice cultivation method in China, which can improve rice yield. However, there is limited knowledge regarding soil carbon sequestration following integrated rice- Azolla imbricata a cropping in paddies in the short term. In order to explore the effect of integrated rice- Azolla imbricata cropping modes on soil carbon sequestration in southeast China, a field experiment was performed in northern Fujian. Three different management regimes（no fertilization control, CK; fertilization, F; fertilization with integrated rice- Azolla imbricata cropping, FA）were selected. The net primary productivity NPP , total carbon sequestration, CO₂ emission from soil heterotrophic respiration and CH₄ emission were measured, and the net ecosystem C budget（NECB）and sequestration rate of SOC were calculated. The results showed that the net primary productivity（NPP）, rice total carbon sequestration, and total CO₂ emissions from soil heterotrophic respiration under FA were significantly higher than those under F and CK（P＜0.05）. However, there was no difference in cumulative CH₄ emissions between F and FA in the paddies. In addition, the NECB of all treatments ranged from 2 751.04 to 4 900.61 kg·hm⁻², indicating that all treatments acted as net C sinks. The NECB and the sequestration rate of SOC in the paddy field were markedly enhanced in FA compared to CK and F（P＜0.05）. These results demonstrate that integrated rice- Azolla imbricata cropping is an effective management practice for enhancing SOC sequestration in paddies in Southeast China, and has great potential in mitigating climate change.