Abstract: In this paper, the parameterization schemes of soil moisture influence on evapotranspiration in four widely used land surface models, i.e. CLM3.5 (Community Land Model Version 3.5), Noah_LSM (The Noah Land Surface Model), VIC (Variable Infiltration Capacity) and SSiB (The Simplified Simple Biosphere Model), are simplified. Experimental observation data are used to evaluate the performance of these parameterization schemes and assess the simulation ability of the models on the relationship between soil moisture and evapotranspiration for the purpose to provide theoretical bases for improving the simulation ability of models. Results indicate that the parameterization schemes of soil moisture influence on bare soil evaporation in CLM and SSiB are more consistent with the real physical processes than those in Noah_LSM and VIC, and the impacts of soil moisture on bare soil evaporation in CLM and SSiB are greater than those in Noah_LSM and VIC. For vegetation evapotranspiration, the parameterization scheme of soil moisture influence on evapotranspiration in CLM is more realistic than those in the other three models, and the impacts of soil moisture on vegetation evapotranspiration in CLM and SSiB are greater than that in VIC and the impact in Noah_LSM is the weakest. Observation data in arid region, semi-arid region, semi-humid region and humid region are analyzed respectively. Results show that the parameterization schemes of soil moisture influence on evapotranspiration in CLM, SSiB and Noah_LSM are better than that that in VIC, and the parameterization schemes in CLM and SSiB are better than that in Noah_LSM at several stations. In addition, the parameterization schemes in all the four models perform better in arid and semi-arid regions than in semi-humid and humid regions.