Abstract. Soil respiration (Rs), a key process in the terrestrial carbon cycle, is very sensitive to climate change. In this study, we synthesized 54 measurements of annual Rs and 171 estimates of Q10 value (the temperature sensitivity of soil respiration) in grasslands across China. We quantitatively analyzed their spatial patterns and controlling factors in five grassland types, including temperate typical steppe, temperate meadow steppe, temperate desert steppe, alpine grassland, and warm-tropical grassland. Results showed that the mean (± SE) annual Rs was 582.0 ± 57.9 g C m−2 yr−1 across Chinese grasslands. Annual Rs significantly differed among grassland types, and positively correlated with mean annual temperature, mean annual precipitation, soil organic carbon content and aboveground biomass, but negatively correlated with latitude and soil pH (P < 0.05). Among these factors, mean annual precipitation was the primary factor controlling the spatial variation of annual Rs in Chinese grasslands. The mean contributions of growing season Rs and heterotrophic respiration to annual Rs were 78.7 % and 72.8 %, respectively. Moreover, the mean (± SE) of Q10 across Chinese grasslands was 2.60 ± 0.08, ranging from 1.03 to 8.13, and varied largely within and among grassland types, and among soil temperature measurement depths. Generally, the seasonal variation of soil respiration in Chinese grasslands cannot be well explained by soil temperature using the van't Hoff equation. Longitude and altitude were the dominant driving factors and accounted for 26.0 % of the variation in Q10 derived by soil temperature at the depth of 5 cm. Overall, our findings advance our understanding of the spatial variation and environmental control of soil respiration and Q10 across Chinese grasslands, and also improve our ability to predict soil carbon efflux under climate change on the regional scale.