The species composition of coccolithophores was investigated based on the survey in shelf waters of the East China Sea during May 2007. By utilizing the scanning electronic microscope, we reported the species list of coccolithophores in this region and photographically demonstrated these species collected in the sampling sites. The results showed that a total of twenty-three species were recorded and affiliated to nine Families, four Orders. Most of these species were heterococcolithophores, and others were holococcolithophores. According to the frequency of occurrences, species of Order Syracosphaeraceae were the most abundant forms, especially the Genus Syracosphaera, with seven species in this group, accounting for more than thirty percent of the total species covered by this study. Emiliania huxleyi (Lohmann) Hay & Mohler and Gephyrocapsa oceanica Kamptner were found in all of the samples and three types of E. huxleyi were examined, including type A, type B/C and type C. Four species of coccolithophores were first recorded from the coastal waters of China Seas. They were: two heterococcolithophores of Family Syracosphaeraceae, Syracosphaera histrica Kamptner and Syracosphaera marginaporata Knappertsbusch; two holococcolithophores of Family Calyptrosphaeraceae, Calyptrolithophora papillifera (Halldal) Heimdal and Corisphaera strigilis Gaarder. Their morphological characteristics were also described in this paper. The physico-chemical environments in the offshore seawaters of East China Sea were strongly influenced by the current of Kuroshio, providing ideal habitats for the rapid growth and reproduction of coccolithophores, and sustaining relative more species of coccolithophores in these regions.