The main technical backgrounds and requirements are introduced with regard to earthquake ground motion design parameters in several domestic and American standards,codes and guides involved in the seismic analysis and design activities of nuclear power plants in China.Based on the research results from site seismic safety evaluation of domestic nuclear power plant projects in the last years,characteristics and differences of site specific design spectra are analyzed in comparison with standard response spectra,and the suitability of standard response spectra for domestic nuclear power plant projects is discussed.