Laser cladding of different process parameters was carried out on Q235 steel substrate with 316L stainless steel powder. The metallographic observation, hardness measurement and phase identification of the cladding samples were carried out by optical microscope, Vickers hardness tester and X-ray diffractometer, respectively. The residual stress state in the surface of the was measured by means of blind-hole method. The influence of laser power, scanning speed and powder feed rate on the microstructure and performance of the cladding layer were studied. The results show that, in a certain range, the increase of laser power and powder feed rate and the decrease of the scanning speed will induce the coarse grain size, the thicker cladding layer, the lower hardness and the higher residual stress in the cladding layer.