Aiming at the low precision problem of multi-cylinder cooperative propulsion control in different regions of shield propulsion hydraulic systems under conditions of large load changes, this paper proposes a tracking differentiator and self-adaptive nonlinear PID (TD-NPID) control method to improve the synchronous control characteristics of shield propulsion hydraulic systems. First, the working principles of shield propulsion hydraulic systems were analyzed, and a mathematical model and TD-NPID controller were developed. Then, a simulation model was developed in AMESim-MATLAB environment, and the synchronous dynamic performances of fuzzy PID control, conventional PID control, and TD-NPID control were compared and analyzed. The results demonstrated that the shield propulsion hydraulic system with TD-NPID control had better servo tracking ability and steady-state performance than the systems with fuzzy or conventional PID control, which verified the feasibility of the application of TD-NPID control for the synchronous control of shield propulsion hydraulic systems.