The current crustal horizontal strain field is given in the paper based on the horizontal movement rates obtained from about 400 GPS stations located in Chinese mainland and its surrounding areas. The results show: a) The horizontal strain in Chinese mainland is "strong in the west and weak in the east" and the shear strain is larger than the normal strain (absolute magnitude). The general strain magnitude is 10-S/a and in local regions is 10-7/a, but the strain distribution is not homogeneous; b) The regions with the most significant NS-trending strains are the Himalayas belt along the western segment of Chinese southern boundary, the segment of 36°N-42°N along the western boundary and the northem margin of Qaidam block; c) The EW-trending strain variation along the western margin is the maximum and it is characterized by the alternatively positive and negative variations from the west to the east; d) The regions with larger magnitudes OfREN (NE-trending shear strain) and Rm~ (maximum shear strain) are Himalayas belt, the segment of 36°N--42°N along the western boundary, the western part of Qaidam block, Sichuan-Yunnan (Chuan-Dian) rhombic block and the border area of Alxa, Qilian and Tarim blocks; e) The surrounding area of Qinghai-Xizang (Qingzang) block is mainly superfacial contraction and its interior is basically superfacial expansion. The area to its north is mainly superfacial contraction with the maximum magnitude along the westem boundary and the minimum magnitude in the eastern part (except Yanshan tectonic zone); f) In the west of the western part, the principal compressive strain is in the SN direction and the principal tensile strain is in the EW direction, while in the eastem margin area of the westem part, the principal compressive strain is proximate EW and the principal tensile strain is about SN. The principal strain direction of Chuan-Dian rhombic block has changed greatly. In the northern part, it is compression in the EW and tension in the SN, while in the southern part, it is just the opposite; g) The strain pattern in Chinese mainland might be the integration of "block mode" and "successive deformation mode". In addition, the shear strain might be the small-scale dominant strain. Such a result might be resulted from the collision of Indian plate and the boundaries coupling, and it is also closely related to the motion of deep-seated matters and the physical nature of crustal medium. Therefore, it should be noted that since the GPS stations are not homogenous in spatial distribution, the obtained strain fields and the scales of the strain should be different.

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Based on the data obtained from the high‐precision GPS measurements carried out in 1992,1995,1996 and 1999 in North China, the relative horizontal motion occurred in two periods (1992–1996 and 1996–1999) botteen the major tectonic units in North China is given in the paper. The results are as follow: (1) Relative to the Ordos unit, the movement of Yinshan unit is of relatively weak left‐lateral strike slip with the amplitude of (0–2.3) ±1.6mm/a and the orientation of about 0°–W13 °N; (2) Relative to Ordos unit, the movement of the Jin–Ji–Lu–Yu unit is right‐lateral extension with the amplitude of (4.4±1.0) –(2.5±1.5)mm/a and the orientation of about S50° −30 °E; while relative to Yanshan unit, it is left‐lateral extensional strike slip with the amplitude (4.7 ± 1.4)–(4.3 ± 1.4)mm/a and the orientation of about E37°–9 °S; (3) Relative to the Jin–Ji–Lu–Yu unit, the Jiao–Liao–Lu–Su unit is characterized by clockwise torsion in the period of 1992–1996. The trend of clockwise torsion is kept with the amplitude of (2.6±1.5)mm/a and the orientation of about W11 °S in the period from 1996 to 1999, showing a right‐lateral strike‐slip movement of extension in the north and compression in the south on the whole. The analysis indicates that current crustal tectonic movement is basically consistent with the current crustal tectonic kinematic property with a little bit difference in magnitudes; Significant fluctuation of the crustal movement with the scale of several years exists, which might be a principal feature for continental crustal movement. The movement in the period of 1996–1999 is different from that of 1992–1996, which is characterized by the strengthening of northward shift of the Ordos unit and the weakening of extensional movement along both sides of the Shanxi graben zone and the Yanshan tectonic zone. It might be resulted from the joint coupling effect of stress accommodatoin after the Zhangbei earthquake and the boundary force of the North China area.

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