A sand culture experiment was conducted to study the salt tolerance of 13 cotton cultivars at their germinating and seedling stages under the stress of different concentration NaCl, and a cluster analysis was made on the salt tolerance, according to the subjection values of salt toxicity coefficients of multi-indices and the sum subjection value. It was observed that the appropriate concentration of NaCl for the evaluation of salt tolerance was 150 mmol x L(-1). The salt tolerance differed with cultivar and growth stage. Among the 13 cultivars, the CCRI-44 and CCRI-177 were steadily salt-tolerant at both germinating and seedling stages, the CCRI-103, Dexiamian 1, and NuCOTN 33B were steadily and moderately salt-tolerant, while the CCRI-102, Sumian 12, and Simian 3 were steadily salt-sensitive. Germination rate, germination potential, germination index, vigor index, and fresh mass could be served as the indicators to evaluate the salt tolerance of the cultivars at germinating stage, while plant height, leaf expansion rate, shoot dry mass, root dry mass, root vigor, and net photosynthetic rate could be applied to assess the salt tolerance at seedling stage.