In the past decades one of the research highlights of earth system science and global changes is Tibetan Plateau uplift and the corresponding global climate changes during the Cenozoic. The mega-rivers originated from the Himalayan-Tibetan Plateau transport huge amount of particulate and dissolved matters eroded from the plateau and its surrounding regions into the marginal seas of Asia and, therefore, exert a great control on source to sink process of terrigenous materials. Geochemical tracing studies of these rivers provided important constraints on the uplift history of the Tibetan Plateau, weathering intensity and atmospheric CO₂ sink in the drainage basins, and chemical flux change of global ocean. Furthermore, sedimentary geochemical studies in the estuaries, based upon the bulk geochemical proxy idices and mineral chemistry and age spectrum of zircon, monazite and apatite, reconstructed the growth cycles of the upper continental crust exposed to weathering and deciphered the evolution history of these rivers.
    Comparatively, geochemical tracing studies on Chinese rivers were triggered about ten years ago and mostly focused on elemental geochemistry of the Changjiang and Huanghe. Recent research work suggested that the silicate weathering rate and the corresponding CO₂ sink in the Huanghe drainage basin are lower than those in the south Asian river basins. Nevertheless, more work are needed in order to better understand the contributions of chemical weathering in Chinese river basins to global climate change. Among Chinese major rivers, the Changjiang which has complex drainage patterns and source rock compositions, deserves more research attentions from multi-discipline and using various research methods. The development history and the sedimentary response of the Changjiang to the Tibetan Plateau uplift and East Asian monsoon evolution should be considered first in the future study.