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Invertebrates are crucially important components of wetland ecosystems. Their assemblages have been well described for wetlands in many parts of the world, but not for Asia. We sampled macroinvertebrates from 39 freshwater wetlands across Northeastern China. Wetland characteristics included permanent and temporary hydroperiods, and floodplain and palustrine settings. We determined which taxa dominated wetlands of the region, and assessed patterns of dissimilarity among this set of wetlands. We then contrasted the 39 wetlands from Northeastern China, with a previously published data set of macroinvertebrate assemblages from 447 freshwater wetlands worldwide, to frame the macroinvertebrate assemblages in Northeastern China wetlands to other wetlands from across the globe. Our data set is the only comprehensive description of aquatic macroinvertebrates from freshwater wetlands in China, and one of the few known data sets for the continent of Asia. We found that macroinvertebrate taxonomic composition in wetlands from Northeastern China shared many similarities in assemblage to wetlands from other cool, moist climates in North America and Europe. Northeastern China wetlands had some unique characteristics, most notably an unusual preponderance of non-pulmonate snail families. The prevalence of these snails makes wetlands of Northeastern China ecologically unique from wetlands elsewhere, with consequences for management and assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]