Abstract: The paper aims to clarify the response of oil-tea Camellia to thinning treatment and provide a theoretical basis for pruning of oil-tea Camellia. The authors studied the effect of different thinning quantities on spring shoot growth and mineral elements distribution of oil-tea Camellia. The results showed that: the number of spring shoots were influenced significantly by different thinning treatments; the higher the thinning quantity, the less the spring shoots germinated; the length of spring shoots was increased and the ratio of spring shoots with different length was affected by different thinning treatments; high quantity thinning treatment increased the proportion of long spring shoots (>10 cm) and decreased the proportion of short spring shoots (<5 cm). In addition, the different thinning treatments changed the content and distribution of mineral elements in different tissues and increased the ratio of N, P, K content in spring shoot and branch to some extent. To sum up, 1/4 thinning quantity is the best treatment to promote the spring shoots germination, keep the balanced length of shoots and improve the content of mineral elements in shoots.