AbstractThis study focuses on the trends and the causes of variation in actual evapotranspiration (AET) around the warming hiatus over China by a comprehensive analysis applying various temporal–spatial methods. It is observed that the annual AET showed a different trend around 2000 for China as a whole. By employing segmented regression analysis for detecting warming hiatus points, high temporal inconsistency can be found in eight climatic regions of China. The impacts of meteorological variables on AET were further identified by affecting the intensity and relative change of meteorological factors. AET was highly correlated (p < .01) with solar radiation in the southeast (R = 0.80) and air specific humidity in the northwest areas (R = 0.83). AET changes presented the highest sensitivity to specific humidity in Northwest before 2006 and in north central China after 2003, with sensitivity coefficients of 1.48 and 1.74, respectively. Three variables, including air specific humidity (with an average contribution rate of ~17% in the northwest), short‐wave radiation and air temperature, can be the main factors that lead to the changes in AET. The specific meteorological factors varied from region to region: the changes in AET can be ascribed to the increased wind and short‐wave radiation in north central China and east China, the decreased air temperature in Tibetan Plateau, the increased specific humidity in southeast China during warming hiatus, and so on. After the warming hiatus occurred, the dominant factor of AET trends changed from air specific humidity to short‐wave radiation and other factors. Generally, air specific humidity and air temperature have played leading roles in AET trends during the past 30 years.