There has been no consensus in previous studies on the relationship between teacher emotional labour strategies and teacher efficacy. Considering the context-dependent nature of emotional labour, we synthesised past findings on this relationship through a meta-analysis in the Chinese context. Based on 17 studies with 8,547 Chinese teachers, emotional labour strategies (i.e. surface acting, deep acting and expression of naturally felt emotions) varied by their effects on teacher efficacy. Deep acting and expression of naturally felt emotions were significantly positively associated with efficacy whereas surface acting showed no significant relationships. Moderator analyses indicated that teaching levels significantly moderated the teacher efficacy-emotional labour strategy relationship.