Abstract. Clouds can strongly influence solar radiation and affects other microclimatic factors (such as air temperature and vapour pressure deficit), and those changed environmental conditions may exert strong effects on carbon exchange between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere. In this study, we analyzed how canopy photosynthesis and ecosystem respiration respond to changes in cloudy conditions, based on two years of eddy-covariance and meteorological data from an irrigated maize cropland in Yingke oasis of northwestern China. The results showed that net carbon uptake was more negative under cloudy than under clear conditions, it indicates that net carbon uptake increased under cloudy days. The rate of ecosystem respiration (Re) decreased under cloudy conditions due to decreased air temperature. However, photosynthesis was suppressed by the decreasing air temperature and vapour pressure deficit (VPD) under cloudy skies. Thus, the enhancement of net carbon uptake under cloudy skies mainly contributed from increasing photosynthesis with diffuse radiation. Those results improve our understanding of the effects of cloud cover on carbon exchange process in maize (C4) cropland, and improve our understanding of the driver improving net carbon uptake under cloudy conditions.