Abstract: The major modes of 700 hPa geopotential height around Tibetan Plateau are investigated by using the Empirical Orthogonal Function (EOF) method, and the main mode variation characteristics of the circulation around the Tibetan Plateau and its regional climate influence are discussed. The results show that on the time scale of interannual variation, the first main mode (EOF1) shows the consistent change of the height field around the plateau, and the second main mode (EOF2) shows the opposite change of the height field in the northwest and southeast of the plateau. The two main modes can explain 42.9% and 24.2% of the total variance of interannual variation, respectively. The EOF1 corresponds to the out-of-phase variation in the strength of the Ural high and the southern trough. The enhanced Ural high and the attenuated southern trough with the positive phase of EOF1 contributes the reinforced cold air activity and weakened southerly winds which result in low temperature and less precipitation over eastern parts of China. In the negative phase, the Ural high weakens and the southern trough strengthens, the West Asian upper-level jet and the cold air invading China weaken, the temperature in the southeast coastal area is high, and the temperature from the south of North China to the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is low and the precipitation increases. The in-phase relationship of the strength of the Ural high and the southern trough is found in EOF2. Both the Ural high and the southern trough are enhanced with northward shift of East Asian jet (EAJ) during the positive phase of EOF2, the cold air and the southwest warm and humid air flow are obviously strengthened, the temperature in the eastern part of China is low, and the precipitation in the southern region is significantly increased. In the negative phase, the Ural high and the southern trough weaken at the same time, and the East Asian upper-level jet stream is positioned further south. The temperature in eastern China is high, and the increased precipitation is mainly distributed in southwest China. Further analyses indicate the close relation between the preceding sea surface temperature (SST) and the changes in the main circulation modes around the Tibetan Plateau. The transient eddy kinetic energy (TEKE) is enhanced by the warm SST over the northern Atlantic Ocean and contributes the formation of the positive phase of EOF1. When the SST is warm in the western equatorial Pacific and cold in the Indian Ocean, the maximum growth rate anomaly of the Eady on the north and south sides of the plateau shows a "negative-positive" dipole distribution, which is conducive to the deepening of the southern trough and the maintenance of the positive phase of EOF2.