Chlorophyll (Chl) a fluorescence transient and 820-nm transmission kinetic were investigated to explore the development of photosynthetic apparatus in grapevine leaves from emergence to full expansion. In this study, all leaves at various developing stages exhibited typical Chl a fluorescence transient. In newly initiating leaves, the maximum quantum yield of primary photochemistry (ϕP0) was slightly lower (<10 %) than that in fully expanded leaves. Nevertheless, the fluorescence rise from O to J step was clearly speeded up in young leaves compared with that in fully expanded leaves. Additionally, a distinct K step appeared in young leaves at high irradiances. With leaf development, the efficiency that a trapped exciton can move an electron into the electron transport chain further than QA - (Ψ0), the quantum yield of electron transport beyond QA (ϕE0), electron transport flux per excited cross section (ET0/CS0), the amount of active photosystem (PS) 2 reaction centres per excited cross section (RC/CS0), and the performance index on cross section basis (PICS) increased gradually and rapidly. Young leaves had strikingly lower amplitude of transmission at 820 nm. A linear relationship between Ψ0 and the transmission at 820 nm (I30/I0) was evident. Based on these data, we suggest that (1) the primary photochemistry of PS2 may be not the limiting step of the photosynthetic capacity during leaf growth under natural irradiance; (2) oxygen evolving complex (OEC) might be not fully connected to PS2 at the beginning of leaf growth; (3) though there are a few functional PS1 and PS2 at the early stages of leaf development, they match perfectly. and C.-D. Jiang ... [et al.].