The paper deals with the dissolving ability of ZnCl₂ aqueous solutions with various mass fractions for cellulose with different degrees of polymerization （DP）. It is found out that （ 1 ） ZnCl₂ aqueous solutions cannot dissolve cellulose unless the salt mass fraction is higher than 65.0% ; （ 2 ） when ZnCl₂ content is not less than 65.0% , the Zn ^2＋ ions unsaturated by water molecules connect with the hydroxyl groups of cellulose, which makes the cellulose to dissolve; and （3） ZnCl₂aqueous solution with a content of 65.0% is of the best dissolving ability for cellulose, and the ability decreases with the increase in DP. It is also indicated by WAXD results that the regenerated cellulose is the crystalline transformation of cellulose Ⅱ. Moreover, FT-IR results show that ZnCl₂ aqueous solution is a direct solvent for cellulose, and that the intramolecular hydrogen bond of regenerated cellulose weakens after the dissolution.