Based on the daily precipitation data at 115 meteorological stations in the Yangtze River Basin during 1963~2015, the spatial distributions and temporal change trends of some important extreme precipitation indices were analyzed. The results show that multiyear mean annual extreme precipitation and mean annual precipitation decrease from lower to upper reaches in the past 53 years, with the spatial distributions of their change trends as “increasedecreaseincrease” from lower and middle to the upper reaches. The proportions of annual extreme precipitation accounting for annual precipitation have significant difference although the contribution ratios show increasing trend in the whole basin in general. The spatial distribution and the change tread of precipitation amount of extreme rainfall events lasting one day are similar to those of annual extreme precipitation amount, with the ratios of them more than 65%, indicating that extreme rainfall events lasting one day are dominated in the Yangtze River Basin. The extreme rainfall events lasting two or more days, with the relative low contribution to annual extreme precipitation amount, appear mainly in regions of Anhui, Jiangsu and Jiangxi provinces, as well as central Sichuan. Annual maximum daily precipitation (MDP) increases from the lower to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River Basin. In the upper reach, MDP varies from 0 to 25 mm at Tuotuohe, Qumalai and Yushu stations, but from 25 to 50 mm at other stations; in the middle reach, MDP varies from 50 to 100 mm mostly, and from 100 to 150 mm secondly; in the low reach, the MDP from 100 to 150 mm is dominated.

Key words：extreme precipitation; precipitation contribution; different duration; Yangtze River Basin