Hatching experiments to determine the recruitment potential of copepod eggs into the planktonic population were conducted using sediment samples collected during two cruises from the Guishan Island area in the Pearl River Estuary, China, in August 2011 and July 2012. The horizontal distribution of the recruitment potential was uneven, ranging from1.7×10⁵ to 1.0×10⁷ eggs/m³ with a mean value of 2.1×10⁶ eggs/m³ in 2011 and ranging from 8.9×10⁴ to 4.3×10⁶ eggs/m³ in 2012. In the abyssal zone outside the breakwater the recruitment potential was higher than inside the culture area and in the shoal waters outside the breakwater. Statistical analysis showed that the recruitment potential of copepod resting eggs was positively significantly correlated with both sediment moisture content, and water depth (P < 0.05). Therefore depth and sediment moisture content are important factors that influence the recruitment potential of copepod resting eggs. The hatching time ranged from 10 to 36 days after a cooling period. The resting eggs were identified after they became adults to be Acartia spinicauda and Centropages tenuiremis. The egg bank in the local sediments is an important source for the two kinds of copepod in the Pearl River Estuary, The recruitment potential of copepod resting eggs collected with a 50 μm and 200 μm mesh net accounted for 93% of the total recruitment, which proved that the two mesh sizes can be effective for separating copepod resting eggs.