H-ZSM-5 zeolites with a uniform crystal size from 0.25 to 2 pm were obtained by adding colloidal silicalite-1 seed in the synthesis gel; with H-ZSM-5 as the support, Zn/H-ZSM-5 was prepared by incipient wet impregnation. The influence of crystal size on the state of Zn species and its relation to the catalytic performance of Zn/H-ZSM-5 in the conversion of methanol to aromatics (MTA) was then investigated. The results illustrated that the state of Zn species and catalytic performance of Zn/H-ZSM-5 are closely related to the crystal size, though the crystal size has little influence on the overall acidity. There exist mainly two types of zinc species, viz., ZnO and ZnOH+; Zn/H-ZSM-5 with smaller crystal size is provided with more ZnOH+ species. The selectivity to aromatics and catalyst stability can be improved greatly by using small crystal Zn/H-ZSM-5. A good linear correlation is observed between the amount of ZnOH+ species and the selectivity to aromatics, suggesting that ZnOH+ species plays an important role in enhancing the dehydrogenation of alkanes and aromatization bf alkenes to aromatics. As a result, small crystal Zn/H-ZSM-5 with large portion of ZnOH+ species exhibits high selectivity to aromatics and long lifetime in MTA. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.