Abstract: It presents experimental and numerical studies on the residual stress and cross-sectional compression resistance of laser-welded stainless steel T-section stub columns. The material testing, 6 membrane residual stress measurements and 21 stub column tests were carried out in the testing program. A simplified distribution model for membrane residual stresses in laser-welded stainless steel T-section was proposed, and the local buckling mode and cross-sectional resistance of stub column under axial compression were obtained. The finite-element models of the tested stub column specimens were developed by ABAQUS, and the accuracy of the FE models was verified based on the test results. Then, parametric analysis was performed to analyze 219 FE models of laser-welded stainless steel T-section stub columns. Based on the test and parametric analysis results, the applicability of the design formulas of the cross-sectional compression resistance of stub columns in current Chinese code ‘Technical Specification for Stainless Steel Structures’ – CECS410:2015’ to laser-welded stainless steel T-section was evaluated. The evaluation shows that the design results of current Chinese specification are conservative. Through the introduction of strain hardening coefficient and adjusting the effective width reduction coefficient, the existing specification is modified. The modified design formulas can accurately predict the cross-sectional compression resistance of laser-welded stainless steel T-section stub columns.