Abstract: In recent decades, the impact of drought and hot extremes in Southern China has become increasingly severe, especially when drought and extreme hot extremes occur simultaneously, posing greater risks to the human economy, society, and natural ecological environment.Based on the daily rainfall and maximum temperature data from 264 meteorological stations, we investigated the spatio-temporal variation of compound drought and hot extremes in South China (including Guangxi, Guangdong, Fujian and Hainan provinces) from 1961 to 2021.The results show that the frequency of compound drought and hot extremes increasing in most parts of South China, particularly in the Pearl River Delta region of Guangdong, where the trend is 0.89 days per decade, which most areas of Guangxi show a decrease trend.In terms of the frequency of compound drought and hot extremes, the occurrence frequency from 1992 to 2021 was higher than that from 1961 to 1991, with 5.45 days and 3.49 days, respectively.Considering the increasing impact and risks of compound events, future climate change researchers should pay more attention to their occurrence.