Based on the daily precipitation data of the Huai River basin (HRB) and NCEP/NCAR reanalysis data from 1960 to 2014, the study examines the spatio‐temporal characteristics of summer extreme precipitation (SEP), explores the statistical relationship between the changes of SEP in the HRB and the East Asian summer monsoon (EASM), and further investigates the circulation characteristics which are most conducive to extreme precipitation under different EASM backgrounds. The main results are as follows: (a) summer extreme precipitation indices (SEPI) of PNL90 and PQ90 mainly increased (although not significant) in the HRB from 1960 to 2014, and the weakening of EASM may be the reason for the upwards trend. (b) The characteristics of SEP are quite different between the north and the south of the HRB, and SEPI mainly negatively correlates with East Asian summer monsoon index (EASMI) in the south but positively correlates in the north. (c) Extreme precipitation may occur under both strong and weak summer monsoon backgrounds in the HRB, but the circulation configurations are different. The differences between high and low SEP are mainly associated with the intensity of western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH) for the weak EASM years, while the differences mainly lie in the position of WPSH for the strong EASM years.