Abstract
The features of tide and tidal current in the east China seas were studied by the FES2014 tide data and tide gauge station data. It is found that FES2014 data is in well agreement with the observation. Among the four major tidal components (M2, S2, K1, and O1), M2 is the strongest tidal component with the maximum amplitude (tidal current) exceeds 100 cm (100 cm/s), followed by S2 tide with its maximum amplitude (tidal current) reaches 60 cm (50 cm/s). The results indicate the east China seas are dominated by semi-diurnal tides. There are four amphidromic points for semi-diurnal tides, and two amphidromic points for diurnal tides. Rotating tidal current dominates the areas far from the coast, and rectilinear current dominates the coastal sea area. The strong tidal currents are often distributed in some places with special topography such as bays and estuaries.