A method combining hydrophilic interaction liquid chromatography(HILIC） with tandem mass spectrometry(MS/MS） was developed for the determination of cartap residue in tea.The target analyte was extracted with acetonitrile-methanol-acetate acid(93∶5∶2） and cleaned up using solid phase extraction(SPE） cartridge with C18 or dispersive solid phase extraction(d SPE） with GCB and C18.The analyte was separated on a ZIC HILIC silica column by a gradient elution of acetonitrile and 10 mmol/L ammonium acetate.A tandem mass spectrometry with electrospray ionization(ESI） was employed to detect cartap using multi-reactionmonitoring(MRM） mode.The matrix effect depended on tea categories and matrix content.A satisfactory linearity（r2≥0.998） was obtained in the concentration range of 0.005-0.5 mg/L.The limits of quantitation(LOQs） for green tea and black tea were 0.008 mg/kg and 0.005 mg/kg，respectively.The method was validated at the spiked levels of 1LOQ，5LOQ and 10LOQ in green tea and black tea，and the recoveries ranged from 70% to 89% with relative standard deviations(RSDs） less than 6%.The results demonstrated that the method was sensitive and accurate，and was suitable for the determination of cartap residue in tea.