Abstract: Electroplating industry is one of the main sources for per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs). At present, there are few reports on PFASs pollution characteristics in surface water around electroplating enterprises. In order to understand the pollutant characteristics and potential ecological risk levels in the surface water around electroplating enterprises in Shanghai, 26 typical PFASs including perfluoroalkyl carboxylic acids (PFCAs), perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acids (PFSAs), sulfonic acid telomeres and potassium 1-chloro-perfluoroalkyl sulfonate (F-53B), were analyzed. The pollution characteristics, source analysis and ecological risk of PFASs were further investigated. The results show that the concentration of ∑PFASs ranged from 93.3-1334 ng/L in the surface water, and ∑PFASs were less than 300 ng/L in most surface water. The most contaminated area was located in Jinshan, where the concentration of ∑PFASs was 14.8 times the background value. The concentration of ∑PFASs was comparable to those of surface water around electroplating enterprises in Guangdong; chemical industry park and airports in Shanghai; and Huangpu River except for a few sampling points; higher than those of the Yellow River and Pearl River with non-potential pollution sources. Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was the main pollutant in almost all surface water, followed by short-chain PFCAs and PFSAs. It indicates that short-chain PFCAs, PFSAs and PFOA were used in electroplating. While 1H,1H,2H,2H- sodium perfluorooctane sulfonate (6∶2 FTS) and F-53B were ubiquitous in surface water, but there were only a few with high concentration, especially F-53B concentration was 968 ng/L in the sample site of Jinshan due to chrome plating business. Although perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) was prevalent in surface water, the concentration was lower than perfluorobutanesulfonate (PFBS) and perfluorohexanesulfonate (PFHxS), with the average concentration of 5.89 ng/L; which showed PFOS should be partly substituted by the two alternatives. All sampling points were divided into five categories with different pollution characteristics. Principal component analysis (PCA) of PFASs indicates that PFBS, PFHxS, PFBA, PFHxA, PFPeA, PFOA and F-53B were the main pollutants with a contribution rate of 35.7%. Spearman correlation analysis showed that PFBS and PFHxS were positively correlated with most PFCAs, indicating that highly relevant PFASs might come from similar sources. F-53B showed positive correlation with PFHpS, PFOS, 6∶2 FTS, which could be released from similar sources, such as chrome plating. According to the characteristics analysis of pollution source, PFASs came not only from electroplating industry, but also from surface treatment industries and biodegradation of precursor compounds. Preliminary ecological risk assessment shows that there is low ecological risk to most surface water, but it exhibits high ecological risk to the surface adjacent a few chrome-plating enterprises with high concentration of F-53B. The research showed that there was pollution in the surface water around electroplating enterprises in Shanghai with different level and characteristics. PFOA was a main pollutant in most surface water, but with low ecological risk. However, there was high F-53B residue and ecological risk in a few sampling sites. It is necessary to strengthen pollution prevention and control.