China is one of the countries most severely affected by tropical cyclones globally, with the associated heavy rainfall often causing significant socioeconomic losses. Based on hourly precipitation observations from the China Meteorological Administration and best-track tropical cyclone data, an analysis of tropical cyclones making landfall in China and their short-duration heavy rainfall characteristics from 1980 to 2020 were analyzed. The results reveal that the average lifetime of tropical cyclones shortened significantly, with an average of 7.17 making landfall in China’s mainland annually, and their landfall locations showed a northward shift. Both the amount and duration of short-duration heavy rainfall increased markedly, at rates of 3.4 mm/10a and 0.1 h/10a, respectively, while precipitation intensity only intensified slightly. The intensity of short-duration heavy rainfall strengthened notably along the southern coast, whereas the increase in precipitation duration was particularly evident from the northern reach of the Yangtze River to the Bohai Bay region. The peak occurrence of short-duration heavy rainfall within a day was at 00:00, with the fastest increase observed at 03:00. Coastal areas experienced their maximum rainfall mostly in the early morning (00:00-06:00), while inland areas saw concentrated rainfall in the afternoon (13:00-19:00).