Three groups of folds: NS-trending fold, EW-trending fold, NE-NNE-trending fold to the east of Xuefeng Shan, are the direct products of multi-phase tectonic deformation since the Paleozoic in South China. Their ages are important constraints on the attribute of Jiangnan Old Land. Baimashan composite granitic batholith intrusing the above three groups of folds is an important geological unit to determine the timing of the three tectonic events. Granite of the Shuiche super-unit intruded before 411Ma at latest and lasted till 381Ma. This magma intruded into the core of the NS-trending folds. Given the youngest strata deformed in the NS-trending folds, we think that the NS-trending fold occurred during the Middle to Late Silurian. Late Triassic magma intruded into the NE-NNE-trending folds before 200Ma. Based on previous research results, we suggest that the NE-NNE-trending folds formed in the Late Triassic. The EW-trending folds were transformed or cut by the NE-NNE-trending folds and related faults. The timing of NE-NNE-trending fold is the Middle Triassic because the youngest strata (the Late Triassic) were deformed into the folds. The NS-trending folds developed in the Guangxi Orogeny during the end of the Early Palaeozoic. The EW-trending folds and the NNE-trending folds both resulted from the Indosinan Orogeny, which represents the interaction between the Yangtze and Cathaysian blocks in different stages during the clockwise rotation of these jointed blocks in the Triassic. The deformation in the interior of South China was controlled by the tectonics along the plate margins in different stages.