The antioxidant ability of '717' hybrid poplar(Populus tremula L.×P. alba L. 'INRA 717-1B4')plantlets were studied under 0, 2.5%, 5.0%, 10.0% polyethylene glycol (PEG) 6000 treatments in vitro culture. The results showed that:(1)2.5% PEG promoted the growth of'717' hybrid poplar plantlets, however, 10.0%PEG inhibited its growth. (2)The content of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and MDA were found significant increase under PEG treatments, especially for the 10.0% concentration. (3)SOD went down as the concentration growing. Compared with the control, the activities of CAT, POD, APX and GR significantly increased after PEG treatment. The activities of POD and APX increased with the increase of concentration of PEG and time. At the 2.5% PEG treatment for 10 d and 5.0% PEG treatment for 20 d, the activity of CAT was the highest during the whole experiment. The activity of GR was significantly increased at 5.0%-10.0% PEG treatment, while at 10.0% PEG treatment, the activities of CAT and GR were decreased than those of 5. 0%. ( 4) All PEG treatments could significantly promote the accumulation of AsA and GSH. AsA content was significantly increased at 5.0% and 10.0% PEG treatment for 10 d and GSH content was significantly higher than that of the control at 2.5%PEG treatment for 10 d, then decreased at 10.0%. These results concluded that low concentration (2.5%) PEG promoted'717' hybrid poplar plantlets to increased antioxidant enzyme activities and antioxidant content to maintain its growth, while the intracellular ROS clearance balance was broken and the oxidative damage was exacerbated at high concentration (10.0%) PEG treatment.