The methane sorption capacities of Cambrian shales from Huang-bai-ling, Mu-fu-shan and Niu-ti-tang Formtions and their controlling factors have been investigated. The TOC contents of these shales vary from 1.08% to 4.16 % and their clay mineral contents range from 36.7 % to 62.3%. The methane sorption capacities of these Cambrian shales display a positive correlation with their TOC contents and indicate that organic matter content is the primary factor of controlling the sorption capacities of these shales. On the other hand, there is no correlation between total clay mineral contents and the methane sorption capacities, while the shales with higher montmorillonite content appear to have relative higher methane sorption capacities. These imply that only individual clay mineral may have some sorption capacity in these Cambrian shales. The methane sorption capacities of these Cambrian shales also show regional variation among the samples from these three strata Formations of different region. The methane sorption capacities of Niu-ti-tang Formation shales from Zunyi and Mu-fu-shan Formation shales from Nanjing are in the range of 2.76-5.30mL/g and 1.36-4.35mL/g, respectively; while the methane sorption capacity of Huang-bai-ling Formation shales from Chizhou ranges from 1.63 to 2.72mL/g. The relationship between TOC content and methane sorption capacity also show significant variation among these shales from different Formations and indicates that the methane sorption capacity of shales are not only controlled by the abundance and types of organic matter, but also affected by the thermal maturity of organic matter, regional geological evolution and as well as the sorption of clay minerals.