Planting shrubs such as Caragana korshinskii Kom. is one of the main components of the ecological rehabilitation project implemented on the Loess Plateau of China. However, the effects of C. korshinskii plantations on soil aggregate stability in the loess hilly region remain unclear. The objectives of the present study were to investigate the distribution and stability of soil aggregates in C. korshinskii stands of different ages (15, 25, and 35 years of strip planting) in the loess hilly region, with natural grassland as the control (> 40 years). Soil samples were collected from four depths (0-10, 10-20, 20-30, and 30-40 cm) at three slope positions (upper, middle, and lower). Soil aggregate stability was determined using the Le Bissonnais method. The results showed that long-term planting of C. korshinskii mainly affected soil aggregate stability at the shallower depths (0-20 cm). In all cases, the proportion of soil macro-aggregates (> 0.25 mm) increased with increasing stand age, indicating that older stands better facilitated the formation of soil macro-aggregates. Mean weight diameter (MWD) of soil aggregates at different slope positions followed the order: lower slope > upper slope > middle slope. On the upper slope, the highest MWD was found in 35-year stands (3.08 mm), whereas on the lower slope, the MWD in 35-year stands was significantly lower than that of the control (P<0.05). Based on the relative slaking index and relative mechanical breakdown index, soil aggregates were sensitive to both slaking and mechanical breakdown on the middle and upper slopes, whereas soil aggregates at the deeper depths (20-40 cm) were more sensitive to mechanical breakdown on the lower slope. Redundancy analysis indicated that MWD was significantly correlated with soil organic carbon and clay contents (P<0.05). Soil aggregate stability was primarily affected by stand age, which explained 30.4% of the observed variation; soil depth and slope position were less influential, accounting for 2.75% and 0.61% of the variation, respectively. In conclusion, soil aggregate stability improved with increasing stand age of C. korshinskii in the loess hilly region; however, this effect varied with slope position. On the upper and middle slopes, soil aggregate stability increased with increasing stand age, whereas on the lower slope it first decreased and then increased.