Abstract: In this paper, the periodic characteristics of annual precipitation in 8 climate regions in recent about 50 years from 1961 to 2006 were analyzed, and the annual precipitation in next 20 years from 2006 to 2026 was predicted. The results show that, at annual scale, there was a periodicity of the change of annual precipitation in most of the 8 climate regions, the highfrequency change (3-4 years) was dominant, and its stability was high. In the past 50 years, annual precipitation was in a decrease trend in most of the 8 climate regions except that in arid and semiarid regions in west China. In next 20 years, annual precipitation will be in a slight decrease trend in most of the 8 climate regions except in a slight increase trend in arid and semiarid regions in west China.

Key words: climate region, precipitation, change periodicity, wavelet analysis, precipitation prediction, China