Based on the monthly sea surface temperature(SST) data from American National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,NCEP/NCAR monthly reanalysis data of wind field,potential height field and humidity as well as daily rainfall data from 753 stations provided by the Chinese National Meteorological Information Center,the characteristics of abnormal SST distribution,summer precipitation in eastern China in the following year and atmospheric circulation anomalies of two strong El Niño events in 1997/1998 and 2015/2016 were compared and analyzed.The results showed that:1)The 2015/2016 El Niño event had been the longest and strongest one since 1950 and the magnitude of SST near the date-line was larger than that in 1997/1998;2)During the following summer of 1997/1998 El Niño,more precipitation occurred in the west of the southern China,the north of Jiangnan area to the Yangtze river basin,the northern part of Huang-Huai area to the southern part of North China and Northeast China;precipitation intensity was weaker and the distribution of anomalous rainfall was smaller in the following summer of 2015/2016,in which the heavy rain belt mainly distributed in the Yangtze river basin,Huang-Huai area and the northern area of the Great Bend of the Yellow River;3)It was found that the Western North Pacific subtropical high(WNPSH) was strong and its location was to the west of its usual position while the ridge line was to the south of its usual position in the following summer of 1997/1998;the abnormally strong mass transportation vertically and upwards,the horizontal wind field of the upper and lower levels and the anomalous convergence of water vapor flux were all favorable for precipitation in the Yangtze river basin and Northeast China in the following year of 1997/1998 El Niño event;in 2016,the WNPSH was weaker and the ridge line was to the north and east of its usual position;the weaker horizontal and vertical circulation anomalies as well as weaker water vapor conditions made the coverage and intensity of summer precipitation weaker.Considering the SST distribution pattern and the impact on rainfall in the eastern China in the following summer,the strong El Niño event of 2015/2016 was still different from the traditional eastern type events.