The Daloushan tectonic belt is located at the southeast margin of the Sichuan Basin, at the junction of the Yangtze plate and the Cathaysia plate, which records the history of plate tectonics deformation in South China in detail. The Maotai Syncline is a typical superimposed fold structure located in the Daluoshan tectonic belt, which is the key to revealing the characteristics of Mesozoic and Cenozoic tectonic deformation in the Daluoshan tectonic belt. The geometric, kinematic and dynamical characteristics of the Maotai Syncline were analyzed through the tectonic analysis of the Maotai Syncline. Together with regional geological research, the Maotai syncline was involved into three phases of shortening deformation since the late Mesozoic. The first phases (D₁) is represented by the near NE-SW syncline developed within the Jurassic system and its lower strata. Paleostress field inversion results indicate near-NW-SE compression. Together with the regional of angular unconformity and the latest strata involved in the deformation, this phases of tectonic deformation occurred at the end of the late Jurassic, and it is driven by the subduction of the ancient Pacific plate. The second phases (D₂) deformation is represented by the superposition and transformation of the early NE-SW fold structure by the NE-SW shortening. Paleostress field inversion results indicate NE-SW compression. Together with the regional angle unconformity characteristics, it shows that the structural deformation of this phases occurred in the late Cretaceous, and it is driven by the outward uplift expansion of the Tibetan Plateau in its early stages. This third phase (D₃) of tectonic deformation is characterized by the development of nearly N-S trending compression tectonics. Together with the regional of angular unconformity and the latest strata involved in deformation, this tectonic deformation occurred at the end of the Paleogene period, driven by the eastward escape expansion of the Tibetan Plateau.