Abstract: Based on the daily precipitation data of 25 stations in the Southwest China from 1979 to 2016, this paper analyzes the characteristics of summer precipitation and continuous precipitation in the Southwest China. The conclusions are as follows: (1) The total number of summer precipitation days in the Southwest China is generally decreasing. The average number of days during the period with no rain showed an increasing trend, while the average number of days during the rainy period showed an increasing trend only in Sichuan. (2) The average duration of long and short continuous precipitation is decreasing, the average duration of long and continuous precipitation is decreasing significantly. The proportion of the total precipitation days of long continuous precipitation events and short continuous precipitation events to the total days of continuous precipitation shows a trend of north-south reverse. What’s more, the proportion of total days of long (short) continuous precipitation events to the total days of continuous precipitation events is increasing in the north (decreasing) and decreasing in the south (increase). (3) The similarities of the combined circulations in the anomalous years between long continuous precipitation and short continuous precipitation: In the lower troposphere, there is a cyclonic circulation anomaly in southeastern China, which converges with the anticyclonic circulation in northern China in the southwest.The vertical velocity fields are all negative anomalies (< -0.015 Pa/s)-ascending motion.The above conclusions can provide clues for meteorological disaster prediction and early warning.