In this paper, experiments were carried out to obtain the actual operation characteristics of external heat exchangers (EHEs) in the first 600 MW supercritical CFB boiler. The furnace temperatures and some operational parameters in EHEs were measured and the heat transfer coefficients of heating surfaces in EHEs were calculated. The results showed that by controlling the solid flow rates to the EHEs, the furnace temperature were adjusted for good performance at various boiler loads and the bed temperature were maintained stable at full load. The heat transfer coefficients in EHEs were mostly over 200 W/(m(2).K), which contributed to the flexible temperature regulation. The tube panel wall temperatures were found to be a saddle-shaped distribution, which was high in the bed center but low near the wall. Packet renewal theory was used to explain such uneven temperature distribution. These results confirm the importance of EHEs to the furnace temperature control of the supercritical CFB boilers, but the uneven tube wall temperatures need to be well solved in the future.