Based on the RegCM4 climate model system, we simulated the distribution of the present climate (19611990) and the future climate (2010-2099, under RCPs emission scenario) over the whole Pearl River Basin. From the climate parameters, a set of mean precipitation, wet day frequency, and mean wet day intensity) and several precipitation quantiles are used to assess the expected changes in daily precipitation characteristics for the 21st century. Meanwhile the return values of precipitation intensity with an average recurrence of 5,10, 20, and 50 years are also used to assess the expected changes in extreme precipitation events in this study. The structure of the change across the precipitation distribution is very coherent between RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The annual, spring and winter average precipitation reduces while the summer and autumn average precipitation increases. The basic diagnostics of precipitation show that the frequency of precipitation is projected to reduce, but the intensity is projected to increase. The wet day quantiles (q90 and q95) also increase, indicating that extreme precipitation intensity will increase in future. Meanwhile, the 5-year return value tend to increase by 30%?45% in the basins of Liujiang River, Red Water River, Guihe River and Pearl River Delta region, where the 5-year return value of future climate corresponds to the 8?10-year return value of the present climate, and the 50-year return value corresponds to the 100-year return value of the present climate over the Pearl River Delta region in 2080s under RCP8.5, which indicates that the warming environment will give rise to change in the intensity and frequency of extreme precipitation events.