Caragana korshinskii K., a dominant member of desert flora in north-western China, is often subjected to aboveground shoot damage, such as grazing, clipping, trampling or wind throw, but as a resprouter shrub, it has a strong ability to regrow following damage and is very successful in its rapid recovery. This sprouting growth plays an important role in maintaining and regenerating the population and contributes to controlling desertification in this area. However, the mechanisms underlying the rapid growth have not been studied in concert. In this study, a total of 12 30-year-old shrubs were randomly selected from the C. korshinskii wood stand. For half of the selected plants, all shoots were cut 1 cm above the soil surface at the end of winter (resprouts), and the other half of the plants were untreated (control plants). At pod set (12th July) and seed maturity (16th August), roots, stems and leaves from resprouts and control plants were sampled to measure the 17 common free amino acids so as to determine whether the resprouts had higher free amino acid concentrations in plant tissues during the growing season. The results showed that the differences of the concentrations of the free amino acids between the treatments were more significant in leaves and roots than in stems. At pod set, the concentrations of most amino acids in leaves, such as aspartate (ASP)、threonine (THR)、serine (SER)、alanine (ALA)、valine (VAL)、leucine (LEU)、tyrosine (TYR)、histidine (HIS) and arginine (ARG), and the concentrations of ASP、SER、VAL and cystin (CYS) in roots were 1.5 times greater in resprouts than in control plants. At seed maturity, the concentrations of most amino acids in leaves, such as ASP、THR、SER、glutamic (GLU)、TYR、phenylalanine (PHE)、ARG and cystine (CYS), and the concentrations of ASP、SER、VAL、HIS and ARG in roots were still higher in resprouts than in control plants. As far as proline (PRO) was concerned, its concentrations in leaves and roots in resprouts were about two-thirds of those in controls at pod set, but there was no significant difference between treatments at seed maturity as the concentration of PRO in control plants decreased dramatically with more rainfall and an increase in leaf water content. The results suggested that PRO was an essential ingredient for osmotic regulation in this species under water deficit. With the exception of PRO, the total concentration of the other 16 free amino acids in leaves and roots in sprouts were 2.7 and 2.0 times greater than the controls, respectively. More free amino acids were available in leaves and roots in resprouts at each sampling time, which would provide essential resources for plant rapid regrowth and then contribute to aboveground biomass recovery. In conclusion, after shoot clipping, resprouts had higher free amino acid concentration in leaves and roots to increase the supply of nutrient for current-year shoot growth, which may be one of the important mechanisms underlying regrowth following the removal of all shoot.