Abstract The East China Sea (ECS) is a typical marginal sea located between the Eurasian continent and west Pacific Ocean. In this study, we review state-of-the-art research progress on the possible sinks of the Changjiang-derived sediments in the ECS during the late Quaternary. The major sinks of these sediments in the ECS are on the outer shelf and the Okinawa Trough during the last glacial maximum corresponding to a lowstand of sea level. During the deglacial marine transgression, the gently dipping shelf was rapidly inundated and strong tides prevented fine sediment from deposition on the open shelf, resulting in the development of a unique tidal sand ridge system. With sea level reaching the present situation and the modern marine environment being completed in the early Holocene, the Changjiang sediments mostly accumulated in the river’s estuary to build a large delta, with only a fraction reaching the inner shelf and coastal embayments. The late-Quaternary changes in monsoon-climate-induced river flux, sea level and oceanic circulation primarily controlled the source-to-sink transport of the Changjiang sediments in the ECS, and further determined the stratigraphic framework and sedimentary facies on the shelf.