This paper chooses Chinese A share companies listed in Shanghai and Shenzhen stock market from 2011-—2013 as research samples, and empirically examines the relationship between background characteristics of the audit committee chair and earnings management. The results show that, the education degree and localization of the audit committee chair can significantly inhibit accrual and real earnings management. The allowance of the audit committee chair can pose an inhibitory effect on the accrual earnings management, but the effect cannot be applied to real earnings management. A further analysis shows that, based on differences between state owned enterprises and non state owned enterprises, the inhibitory effects of audit committee chairs background characteristics on earnings management are also different.