Abstract: In order to study the influences of the types and contents (mass fraction) of potassium salts on the pyrolysis products of cigarette paper, thermogravimetric analysis (TG) and segmented pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) were used to analyze the thermal decomposition and pyrolysis behavior of nine cigarette paper samples. The results showed that: 1) The thermal mass loss of the nine samples could be divided into four stages, and the major thermal mass loss stage occurred at 162-612 ℃. 2) With the rise of pyrolysis temperature, the number and type of pyrolysis products increased. The dominant pyrolysis products at 350 ℃ were ketones, aldehydes, acids, esters and alcohols, and those at 550 ℃ were ketones, aldehydes, acids, alcohols and phenols. 3) The differences in the type and contents of potassium salts influenced the pyrolysis products at the first stage (50-350 ℃) to different extents, and slightly affected the pyrolysis products at the second stage (350-550 ℃). Generally, the cigarette paper additives, such as potassium hydrogen malate, potassium tartrate and potassium citrate produced more pyrolysis components which were beneficial to smoking taste; while adding potassium phosphate and potassium acetate would increase the releases of benzene, phenolic compounds and acetic acid in smoke, which might not be conducive to smoking taste.