This study aimed to explore the seasonal variations and their main controlling factors for soil bacterial respiration rates along secondary tropical forest succession, thus identifying the response mechanism of soil bacterial respiration to tropical forest restoration. In this study, the substrate-induced respiration technique and high-throughput sequencing technology were utilized to determine the soil bacterial respiration rate and bacterial diversity, respectively, at three secondary restoration stages (i.e., Mallotus paniculatus, Mellettia leptobotrya, and Syzygium oblatum communities) of Xishuangbanna. We also analyzed the effects of the shifts in soil bacterial diversity, pH, carbon pool and nitrogen pool on soil bacterial respiration rate, using regression and structural equation model analyses. The results showed that:1) the soil bacterial respiration rates were significantly higher in S. oblatum ((1.51±0.62)CO₂ mg g^-1 h^-1) than in those in M. leptobotrya ((1.16±0.56)CO₂ mg g^-1 h^-1) and M. paniculatus ((0.82±0.60)CO₂ mg g^-1 h^-1). 2) Soil bacterial respiration rates showed an obvious single-peak seasonal trend with the maximum value occurred in September. In September, soil bacterial respiration rates were ranked as S. oblatum community ((2.41±0.29)CO₂ mg g^-1 h^-1)>M. leptobotrya community ((1.75±0.33)CO₂ mg g^-1 h^-1)>M. paniculatus community ((1.60±0.66)CO₂ mg g^-1 h^-1). 3) Soil microbial carbon also showed an increasing trend along the tropical forest restoration; the order of soil microbial carbon was S. oblatum community ((3.06±1.45)g/kg)>M. leptobotrya community ((2.22±1.40)g/kg)>M. paniculatus community ((1.75±1.14)g/kg). Microbial carbon showed a significantly seasonal variation, which could explain 21% to 35% of the variations in soil bacterial respiration rates. 4) Soil bacterial diversity increased along the tropical forest restoration; the contribution of bacterial diversity to soil bacterial respiration dynamics was ranked as S. oblatum (72.60%)>M. leptobotrya (67.90%)>M. paniculatus (64.80%). 5) The concentrations of carbon and nitrogen pools in later restoration stage increased by 4.27%-58.77%, compared with the early restoration stage. Soil bacterial respiration rates were significantly positively correlated with soil organic carbon and ammonium nitrogen (P<0.01), as well as total nitrogen and soil pH (P<0.05). 6) The structural equation modeling showed that bacterial Shannon index, microbial biomass carbon, total nitrogen, ammonium nitrogen, and soil pH could directly regulate bacterial respiration; bacterial Shannon index and microbial biomass carbon primarily contributed to soil bacterial respiration dynamics. In contrast, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen, and ammonium nitrogen indirectly promoted bacterial respiration by increasing Shannon index and microbial biomass carbon. Therefore, the secondary tropical forest succession in Xishuangbanna significantly promoted the soil bacterial respiration. The temporal variations in soil bacterial respiration rates were primarily directly determined by microbial carbon and bacterial Shannon diversity, while they were indirectly regulated by total organic carbon, ammonium nitrogen, and total nitrogen.