AREBs transcription factor family genes are mainly involved in plant tolerance to abiotic stresses including drought, high salt, extreme temperatures and so on. In this study, the GhAREB4 gene of upland cotton was cloned by PCR approach, which is 1 784 bp in size. Its open reading frame contains 1 227 bp, encoding a 408 amino acids peptide whose molecular weight is 44.3 kD and the isoelectric point is 8.88. The GhAREB4 proteinhad a conserved domain of bZIP gene family in the secondary structure. Phylogenetic tree analysis showed that GhAREB4 had the highest homology with Cocoa AREB transcription factor. Subcellular localization analysis through green fluorescent protein (GFP) fusion approach showed that GhAREB4 protein was distributed in the nucleus. Results of qRTPCR analysis showed that GhAREB4 gene preferentially expresses in flowers. And GhAREB4 gene was induced under drought, high salt, low temperature, abscisic acid (ABA) treatment, suggesting that the gene plays an important role in cotton plant tolerance to abiotic stresses. These results could provide a foundation to further implore the function of GhAREB4 in cotton tolerance to abiotic stress.