Abstract: We conducted a greenhouse gas emissions study of different rice-based cropping systems in the Taihu Lake region. The results indicated that the seasonal CH₄ emission initially increased, but declined over time. CH₄ emission mainly occurred during the early stages of rice growth and decreased after the paddy soil dried. N₂O emission mainly occurred during the fertilizer application and paddy field drying stages. Compared with N₂O emission, CH₄ emission contributed significantly more to the global warming potential (GWP) during the rice season. The proportion of CH₄ emission to the total greenhouse gas emissions, which this study aimed to reduce, ranged from 94.7%-99.6%. CH₄ emissions and their GWP during the rice season varied significantly under different rotation systems, with the order of wheat-rice rotation>Chinese milk vetch-rice rotation>fallowrice rotation, while the N₂O emissions and their GWP exhibited no significant differences. Compared with no nitrogen fertilization, applying N fertilizer significantly reduced CH₄ emission and GWP of the Chinese milk vetch-rice rotation. However, CH₄ emission and GWP did not vary with N application rates. The rice yield was largest when the N application rate was 240 kg·hm^-2. Taking economic and environmental benefits into account, we found that a N application rate of 240 kg·hm^-2 and a strawreturn application of Chinese milk vetch not only reduced greenhouse gas emissions but also achieved the highest rice grain yield, which was recommended as a suitable cropping system for the Taihu Lake region.