Abstract: Meteorological variables play an vital role in variations of surface ozone (O₃). Here, O₃ and meteorological data from 2013 to 2018 in China were analyzed using the Inverse Distance Weight, Kolmogorov-Zurbenko filter and multiple linear regression to evaluate their relationships and periodicity of O₃. The results showed that: (1) From 2013 to 2018, the 90^th percentile of 8-hour daily maximum ρ(O₃) (ρ(O₃-max-8 h)) gradually increased, with an annual growth rate of 2.6 μg/(m³·a). A high ρ(O₃-max-8 h) (≥ 180 μg/m³) zone occurred in the North China and Yangtze River Plains, which gradually expanded in the North China Plain and shrank in the Yangtze and Pearl River Deltas. (2) The spatial distribution of variance contributions of ρ(O₃-max-8 h) short-term and seasonal-term components was 'complementary'. The short-term contribution (75%) was the highest in the southeast coast and less than 30% inland, while the seasonal-term component was minimal in the southeast coast (15%), and much higher inland (60%). (3) From the North China Plain to the Yangtze River Delta, long-term meteorological changes mainly resulted in the ρ(O₃-max-8 h) increase, while meteorological changes had insignificant effects in the South, Southwest and Northeast China. (4) The correlations between ρ(O₃-max-8 h) and temperature and between ρ(O₃-max-8 h) and total solar radiation were the highest in Sichuan Basin and Hubei Province (r>0.86); between ρ(O₃-max-8 h) and relative humidity was higher in the central and western regions (r>0.64); whilst between ρ(O₃-max-8 h) and wind speed there was a strong positive correlation in the North China Plain (r>0.89). Overall, surface O₃ has significant spatial-temporal distribution characteristics in China, but the effects of meteorological factors and total solar radiation on O₃ distribution showed significant regional differences.