Seasonal and spatial variations in the sea surface absorption coefficients of colored dissolved organic matter in the entire shelf of the East showed a decreasing trend from the inner shelf near the China coast toward the 75% of the shelf waters belong to the Case 2 water category. It was ascertained that the entire absorption spectra in the UV (λ= 250nm) to the Visible (λ= 500nm) range could not be well-described when only one single exponential decay function was employed. Four discontinuity points at wavelengths of around 250, 275, 325 and 400 nm in the log-trans-formed absorption spectra were noted. Based on the regressive analysis of a total of 137 absorption spectra, the mean slopes of the exponential decay constant at 250, 275, 325 and 400 nm were 0.018 ± 0.004, 0.025 ± 0.004, 0.015 ± 0.002 and 0.012 ± 0.002 nm^-1, respectively. In addition, it was found that the values of the absorption coefficients had a high linear correlation with salinity. This suggests that in terms of mixing, the concentrations of colored dissolved organic matter were mostly conservative. The finding of such a relationship provides researchers with the opportunity to obtain remotely obtain the absorption coefficients of colored dissolved organic matter by using the newly-developed Scanning Low-Frequency Microwave Radiometer (SLFMR) technique.