The opinion that the specific dynamic action （SDA） is caused by the growth of animals dominates the studies in this field. But there are still evidences for the positive correlation between SDA and feeding. In order to investigate the relation between the growth and SDA of Chinese shrimp, Fermeropenaeus chinensis, three experiments were designed. In the first experiment, shrimps of four different body weight were fed with formulated diet at different ration levels for 28 d and the data of growth, food ingestion, and exuviations were acquired. In another experiment, the shrimps were fed with six different diets （fish muscle, shrimp muscle, clam muscle, polychatte worm, formulated diet, and an equal mixture of them） for 30 d and the same data as the first experiment were acquired. Then the energy budget of the shrimp in each experiment was constituted. The respiration energy consumption of Chinese shrimp was calculated using methods of reckoning from energy budget respectively and the energy cost of growth after ingesting formulated diet was calculated. It was found that the energy cost of 1 g wet weight, l g dry weight, 1 g protein, and 1 kJ energy body weight gain were 12.660- 17.785 kJ, 21.600-31.292 kJ, 31.572- 45.537 kJ, 1.089- 1.453 kJ, respectively, when the shrimp fed with formulated diet. The compound relationship among body weight （W）, weight gain （G）, and energy consumption （Re） was well simulated with equation Re= r? G＋ b? Wc. It was inferred that the energy cost of Chinese shrimp was higher than fishes after comparing the data of the present experiment with previous studies on fishes. Significant differences were found among the energy costs of unit body growth of the shrimp fed with different feed. Shrimps fed on polychaete worm expended least energy and shrimps fed on fish flesh consumed most energy for unit body growth. It was found that food conversion efficiencies （ FCEd, FCEp and FCRe） were highest at polychatte worm fed shrimps and the poorest food conversion efficiencies were observed in fish flesh fed shrimp. The relationship between the apparent specific dynamic action and growth was explored. It is indicated that the energy allocated to growth was negatively related to the apparent specific dynamic action, thus indicating that the growth of animals was not the direct causal factor for apparent specific dynamic action. A credible explanation of the nature of SDA is still in need. To achieve this explanation, further studies to understand the energy cost of feeding and the energy expense of growth simultaneously must be conducted.