Astragalus adsurgens Pall. is an excellent grass and sand-fixing plant. The paper mainly studied the effects of AM fungi on the growth and drought resistance of A. adsurgens subjected to water stress using pot experiments. The experimental design included three levels of water regimes (70%, 50%, and 30% of soil relative water content) and three inoculation treatments (uninoculation, control; inoculation with Glomus mosseae; inoculation with indigenous AM fungi of A. adsurgens rhizosphere). The results showed that water stress significantly (P<0.05) inhibited the growth of A. adsurgens such as plant height, number of branches, shoot dry mass and root dry mass whether inoculated with AM fungi or not, and significantly (P<0.05) increased indigenous AM fungal infection rate, but infection rate of G. mosseae was not affected by water stress. The treatment inoculated with AM fungal promoted growth of A. adsurgens and strengthened drought resistance of host plant, whereas the contribution extent varied with fungal species and soil water content. Under different water regimes, AM fungi inoculation significantly (P<0.05) increased mycorrhizal infection rate, root activity, root total N content and leaf CAT activity. Under 30% and 50% water treatments, Shoot total N content, leaf chlorophyll, proline, soluble protein content and POD activity were significantly (P<0.05) enhanced, and leaf malondialdehyde (MDA) content was significantly (P<0.05) decreased for mycorrhizal plants, plant height, number of branches, shoot dry mass and root dry mass of plants inoculated with indigenous AM fungi were significantly (P<0.05) more than those of non-mycorrhizal plants. Under 30% water treatment, shoot total P and leaf relative water content of mycorrhizal plants were significantly (P<0.05) improved compared to non-mycorrhizal plants, while plants inoculated with G. mosseae had significantly (P<0.05) higher plant height, number of branches, shoot dry mass and root dry mass than non-mycorrhizal plants. After 40 days of water stress leaf soluble sugar content of mycorrhizal plants was significantly (P<0.05) increased. Leaf SOD activity of mycorrhizal plants was significantly (P<0.05) higher than that of non-mycorrhizal plants after 80 days of water stress. Mycorrhizal dependency increased with the extent of water stress increasing. The effects of indigenous AM fungi on the growth and drought resistance of A. adsurgens were superior to those of G. mosseae regardless of soil water content. The interaction between water stress and AM fungi significantly (P<0.01) affected number of branches, mycorrhizal infection rate, leaf SOD, CAT and POD activities, content of leaf chlorophyll, proline and soluble protein, total N and total P content of shoot, root total N content and root activity, and significantly (P<0.05) affected leaf MDA and root total P content. In summary, AM fungi increased soil water and mineral nutrient uptake and improved plant physiological metabolic activities, and thereby promoted drought resistance and growth of A. adsurgens. The results provided the basis for selection of excellent drought-resistant AM fungi and the full application of AM fungi resources in promoting the growth of desert plants and vegetation restoration.