Abstract: This paper investigates the characteristics of the deformation and shear strength of laterite clay. Three kinds of laterite clays in Jingxi, Guangxi Province are studied with laboratory tests including compression tests and triaixal shear tests. The samples are undisturbed or remolded specimens. They are either saturated or unsaturated. The studies show that at a greater consolidation pressure, the void ratio of samples after compression is still very great; and the failure surface under triaixal shear condition takes on a complicated shape (i.e., not a plane surface). Although an obvious failure surface (i.e., showing a brittle failure characteristics) takes place, the stress-strain curve takes on a hardening characteristics, which reflects the viscosity of laterite clay.