Abstract: The expression of quantitative relationships between characteristic parameters of work roll wear and roll shifting strategy parameters was derived, the effect of various roll shifting strategy parameters on characteristic parameters of work roll wear was studied theoretically, and the effect of roll shifting on loading gap under different work roll wears was analyzed. On this basis, the principle of selecting roll shifting parameters was established, and a varying shifting stroke strategy of conventional work rolls in hot rolling was proposed. The strategy was applied in many production lines of hot strip mills in China.