The South China Sea is located at a juncture among the Eurasian, the Indian-Australian and the Pacific plates, being the largest continental marginal sea along the East Asian continental margin. It has experienced a complex transition of continental marginal types. Complex dynamic settings of the South China Sea have caused many controversies on their origin. The plate dynamic factors include either the Pacific Plate subduction and the indentation of the Philippine Sea Plate along the Taiwan Orogen to the east side the South China Sea, or the Indian Plate oblique subduction and mid-ocean ridge subduction to the west side. They may also be responsible for the uplifting of the Tibetan Plateau and the related extrusions of continental blocks to the north side. At the same time, the mantle dynamics of deep-seated magma underplating, delamination, mantle plume and mantle-hydrated process should not be ignored.