A 40-day feeding experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of previous food restriction on the compensatory growth response in Chinese shrimp, Fenneropenaeus chinensis. Four groups of shrimp with initial body weight of 2.189±0.093g (mean±SE) were used, in which the contro group (Group C) received ad libitum rations throughout the experiment, and the other three groups (expressed as Group R4, R8, and R12) were first fed at 4%, 8% and 12% of body weight per day (% B.W.•day-1), espectively, for 10 days and were then fed ad libitum for a recovery period of 30 days. After 10 days of estricted feeding, the shrimp showed increased body contents of moisture and ash and decreased contents of lipid, protein, and energy compared with the controls. The effect of previous food restriction on body biochemical composition gradually reversed during the period of ad libitum feeding. At last, there were no significant differences in body composition among all groups, with the exception of a higher lipid content appeared in Group R12. Specific growth rates in terms of wet weight, dry matter, protein, and energy (SGRw, SGRd, SGRp, and SGRe) decreased with decline in ration, while feed conversion efficiencies (FCEw, FCEd, and FCEp) were highest at feeding level of 12% B.W.•day-1 during the course of food restriction. Following transfer from restricted to ad libitum feeding regime, all the restricted groups exhibited significantly higher food intake (FIw) and SGRw than the control group. However, this compensation response only occurred within the first 10 days of ad libitum refeeding. During the period of ad libitum refeeding, all the restricted groups showed just slightly higher feed conversion efficiencies than that of the control group. At the end of the experiment, Group R12 was able to fully catch up with the control in body weight, while the other two restricted groups still weighed less than the control. It appears that both completely and partially compensatory growth occur in Chinese shrimp, and this growth compensation is mainly dependent on increasing food intake (hyperphagia) and possibly is contributed somewhat by improvement in feed conversion efficiency.