〔Abstract〕 Objective To investigate the influence of C-C motif chemokine ligand 20(CCL20) on migration, invasion and proliferation of esophageal squamous cell carcinoma(ESCC) cells, and to preliminarily research its molecular mechanism. Methods The CCL20 expression plasmid and interference plasmid was transfected into ESCC cells, and the stably transfected cells was selected with G418,Western blot or qRT-PCR assay was used to assess the effects of over-expression and interference.The influence of CCL20 in migration, invasion and proliferation of ESCC cells was detected by Transwell and CCK8 assays, pathway inhibitors was used to seek the downstream signaling pathway of CCL20. Results CCL20 overexpressing and interfering cell lines was successfully established, CCL20 overexpression promoted ESCC cells migration and invasion, and increased the activation level of ERK1/2.Interfering CCL20 expression reduced the ability of migration and invasion in ESCC cells, and the activation level of ERK1/2 decreased.Moreover, ERK1/2 specific inhibitor treatment reversed the migration and invasion induced by CCL20. Conclusion CCL20 promotes ESCC cells migration and invasion by activating ERK pathway.CCL20 may be a potential target for the treatment of ESCC.