Bauxite is the general term for industrially available aluminum ores, which can be regarded as the ultimate product of continental chemical weathering. As a kind of strategic major mineral resources, bauxite and its associated minerals are important for national resource security. At present, more than 60% of the total use of bauxite in China depends on imported bauxite ore, and the challenge of self- guaranteeing of resources is evident. Bauxitization, lateritization and tropical pedigenesis are different manifestations of the tropical weathering mechanism, and their main controlling factors are similar, including suitable climate (temperature and precipitation), erosion rate, parent rock, time, vegetation, and topography. There are connections among the three, but the differences are also significant, mainly reflected in the time scale and the complexity of sedimentation. Lateritization or tropical pedigenesis may be included in a certain stage of bauxitization. The important bauxite resources in China concentrated in Late Paleozoic, they have different provenances in different regions, which can be summarized as: stable autochthonous and quasi- autochthonous sources in the plate interior, allochthonous volcanic ash sources in the plate margin and allochthonous provenance from the orogenic belt on the plate margin. The provenance components may come from the underlying sedimentary rock basement or plate margin volcanic arc material, or a mixture of both. The bauxites from different parent materials preserve the traces of detrital zircon chronological distribution. Different provenances also determine the geochemical compositions of bauxite deposits in different regions. Among them, the TiO2 content changes significantly, which can be considered as a potential provenance identification indicator for bauxite deposits. In addition to the special tectonic background, deep- time environmental factors such as paleoclimate, sea- level change, and paleohydrological conditions also need to be considered in the Late Paleozoic bauxitization in China. In the case of stable paleoclimate conditions, this paper constrains the regional tectonic activity as the decisive factor for the formation of bauxite in China by using logistic regression model calculations. This factor determines the key bauxitization conditions such as the source of weathering minerals and the intensity of structural uplift. Sea- level change is the secondary factor. Relatively low sea- level conditions can promote more intense exposure and leaching of ore- forming parent materials, forming high- quality bauxite ores.