Abstract Using the measurements at 1 683 GPS stations in China continent and its adjacent areas,we built a kinematical deformation model of the continent composed of 31 active blocks which are bounded on about 30 Quaternary active faults with different atlitude and slipping rate less than 20 mm/a.In modeling,the tectonic deformation of the continent is regarded as the combination of coherent motion of the relevant block and elastic strain induced by locking of boundary fault. The simulated results show that,in the GPS measurement accuracy range,the model reflects the main features of tectomic deformation of China continent well. The slip rates offerred by the kinematic model of the major faults in QinghaiTibet plateau and surrounding area are in ranges of 6-18 mm/a and 1-4 mm/a in Eastern China, which are consistent with geological observation in long time. The numerical simulation indicates that the internal deformation of crustal blocks compared with the local deformation of the margin zone of 50-100 km wide is limited, about 10 ×
10-9/a. This suggests that the continental deformation pattern is not continuouslike but blocklike，and the plate tectonics principle may still be applicable to characterize the deformation kinematics in Asia.
