Abstract: Different types of laterites are widely developed in South China, but the laterite in the SW China is significantly different from that in South China. Based on the laterite sections on different bedrocks in the Kunming area, Yunnan, including limestone (JC Section), sandstone (NL Section), basalt (XTC Section), and mudstone (LHX Section),insights into the weathering characteristics of laterite, the enrichment and depletion of trace elements, and their correlations with minerals in the Kunming area were obtained by analyzing minerals, trace elements, and the correlations between elements and minerals. ① The main minerals of laterite from different parent rocks are quartz, feldspar, clay minerals, gibbsite, goethite, and hematite, and the overall weathering degree of the laterites is relatively high. However, the coexistence of early-weathered clay minerals such as illite and chlorite and lately-weathered kaolinite and gibbsite is the characteristics of the laterites, which may be related to the climatic and environmental characteristics of the plateau reguon. ② The mass transfer coefficients (MTE) of trace elements in the laterite show that the weathering degree of the laterite developed from limestone and sandstone is relatively high, belonging to residual laterite; the weathering degree of basalt-originated laterite is also high, but the MTE of trace elements is positive, indicating that it is inherited from the parent rock; the weathering degree of mudstone-originated laterite is relatively weak, and the MTE is largely positive, belonging to the inheritance of the parent rock too. ③ The correlation between trace elements and minerals indicates that the enrichment degree of trace elements in the laterite of limestone and sandstone in origin is relatively high, and the adsorption of Cu, Ni, and other trace elements by gibbsite and kaolinite leads to their enrichment; the enrichment effect of trace elements by gibbsite and kaolinite in basalt laterite is also strong. The correlation between Rb and clay minerals in the laterite is not consistent, and its variation is controlled by two factors: K-bearing minerals and clay minerals. The characteristics of mineral composition and trace elements reveal the differences in weathering intensity of laterite developed from different parent rocks.