SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences © Science China Press and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 earth.scichina.com link.springer.com *Corresponding author (email: gxwu@lasg.iap.ac.cn) †Corresponding author (email: zhanqing@umd.edu) ‡Corresponding author (email: lijd@mail.iap.ac.cn) §Corresponding author (email: zhoudg@mail.iap.ac.cn) **Corresponding author (email: hrh@mail.iap.ac.cn)  REVIEW  January 2016 Vol.59 No.1: 1–16 doi: 10.1007/s11430-015-5198-z Advances in studying interactions between aerosols and monsoon in China WU GuoXiong 1* , LI ZhanQing 2† , FU CongBin 3 , ZHANG XiaoYe 4 , ZHANG RenYi 5 , ZHANG RenHe 4 , ZHOU TianJun 1,7 , LI JianPing 5,7 , LI JianDong 1‡ , ZHOU DeGang 6§ , WU Liang 6 , ZHOU LianTong 6 , HE Bian 1 & HUANG RongHui 6** 1 LASG, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; 2 College of Global Change and Earth System Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China; 3 School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China; 4 Chinese Academy of Meteorological Sciences, Chinese Meteorological Administration, Beijing 100081, China; 5 Department of Atmospheric Sciences, Texas A & M University, Texas 77843, USA; 6 CMSR, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China; 7 Joint Center for Global Change Studies, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China Received April 1, 2015; accepted September 9, 2015; published online October 26, 2015 Abstract Scientific issues relevant to interactions between aerosols and the Asian monsoon climate were discussed and evaluated at the 33rd “Forum of Science and Technology Frontiers” sponsored by the Department of Earth Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Major results are summarized in this paper. The East Asian monsoon directly affects aerosol transport and provides a favorable background circulation for the occurrence and development of persistent fog-haze weather. Spatial features of aerosol transport and distribution are also influenced by the East Asian monsoon on seasonal, inter-annual, and decadal scales. High moisture levels in monsoon regions also affect aerosol optical and radiative properties. Observation analyses indicate that cloud physical properties and precipitation are significantly affected by aerosols in China with aerosols likely suppressing local light and moderate rainfall, and intensifying heavy rainfall in southeast coastal regions. However, the detailed mechanisms behind this pattern still need further exploration. The decadal variation in the East Asian monsoon strongly affects aerosol concentrations and their spatial patterns. The weakening monsoon circulation in recent decades has likely helped to increase regional aerosol concentrations. The substantial increase in Chinese air pollutants has likely decreased the temperature difference between land and sea, which favors intensification of the weakening monsoon circulation. Con- structive suggestions regarding future studies on aerosols and monsoons were proposed in this forum and key uncertain issues were also discussed. Keywords Aerosol, Monsoon, Interaction, Fog-haze Citation: Wu G X, Li Z Q, Fu C B, Zhang X Y, Zhang R Y, Zhang R H, Zhou T J, Li J P, Li J D, Zhou D G, Wu L, Zhou L T, He B, Huang R H. 2016. Advances in studying interactions between aerosols and monsoon in China. Sci China Earth Sci, 59: 1 – 16, doi: 10.1007/s11430-015-5198-z 1. Introduction Climate change has been a great concern both to govern- ments and people around the world since the 1980s. On the one hand, climate change is affected by natural factors in-