Abstract: Investigation of the bacterial community and their metabolic activities on NaCl cured hide is essential to optimize NaCl curing conditions, and to explore more effective hide preservation methods. The species composition, abundance, and functional prediction of bacteria on fresh hide and NaCl cured hide were investigated by using a high-throughput sequencing technology and bioinformatics tools. Operational taxonomic units (OTUs) of the cured hides were decreased from 1704 to 1127 when NaCl amount was increased from 0% to 43.2% (based on the weight of fresh hide), proving that NaCl has a bacteriostatic action. The common OTUs among NaCl, fresh hide, and cured hide indicated that the bacteria on the cured hide mainly came from the fresh hide. The strains of genus Vibrio derived from hide had high relative abundance, and they could not be inhibited completely in NaCl curing. Additionally, strains of genera Psychrobacter, Halomonas, Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium were also difficult to be inhibited. Some halophilic bacteria derived from industrial grade NaCl, such as genera Psychrobacter and Halomonas, also existed on the NaCl cured hides, and they could not be inhibited completely in NaCl curing as well. Redundancy analysis showed that the NaCl amount or extension of preservation time led to the increase of bacterial abundance, and the effect of preservation time was more remarkable. Therefore, the targeted inhibition of strains of genera Vibrio, Psychrobacter, Halomonas, Staphylococcus and Corynebacterium, and the reduction of preserving time as possible are important strategies to improve the quality of cured hides.