In the paper, the relationship between the summer rainfall in China and the intensity of the northern Pacific oscillation (NPO) in winter is analysed. The results indicate that, the major rain belt is located in or north to the Yellow River Valley in summer(Rainfall pattern 1) when NPO is stronger than normal in winter, while the major rain belt occurs between the. Yellow River and the Changjiang River in summer (Rainfall pattern 2) when NPO is weaker than normal in winter. Besides, the change of NPO from winter to summer and its response to SST anomalies in the northern Pacific are also studied.