Developing forest carbon sinks (FCS) is significant for China to achieve carbon neutrality. The Yellow River Basin is a principal area for China’s energy consumption, and the forest resource distribution of this vast basin is spatially dependent, determining that the development of FCS cannot be separated geographically. Based on the spatial panel data of 69 prefecture-level cities in the Yellow River basin in 1988-2018, firstly, we depict a picture of the spatial-temporal trajectories for FCS variations using geospatial analysis. Secondly, fully considering the economic and geographical attributes of forest resources, we develop a spatial econometrics model to investigate the inter-regional correlations and spatial spillover effects of FCS from the spatial dimension and comprehensively explore the direct and indirect impact of different explanatory variables on FCS. Thirdly, pertinent policy suggestions are put out to serve as a guide for increasing FCS.