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In this study, we analysed the interannual variability of sea surface temperature (SST), sea surface wind (SSW), and sea level anomaly (SLA) in the South China Sea (SCS) during 1985–2016 using monthly reanalysis and satellite datasets. An empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis was performed to evaluate the interannual variability of each variable. The warming rate of SST was 0.18 ± 0.26°C decade−1 in the SCS. The first EOF of SST was characterized by basin-wide warming, with the highest anomalies in the northern deep basin. The first temporal coefficient of SST was negatively correlated with the Niño 3.4 index, with a lag of 6 mo. The mean rising rate of SLA was 7.6 cm decade−1, with the greatest trend in the coastal water of Vietnam, which exhibited a similar spatial pattern with the first EOF of SLA. The temporal coefficient of SLA was negatively correlated with that of SST, with a lag of 5 mo. The trend of SSW was around 0.8 m s−1 decade−1 over the SCS. The first EOF of SSW was characterized by an anticyclonic pattern. The temporal coefficient was correlated with that of SST, with a lead of 2 mo. Wavelet coherence was used to investigate the cross-correlation relationship between SST and other variables. SST and SLA had a strong negative correlation in the 8–16-mo (1–1.5 yr) band. The high positive wavelet coherencies between SST and SSW and Niño 3.4 were mainly in the 32–64 mo (3–5 yr) band in the SCS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]