Jinsha River (Chinese: 金沙江; pinyin: Jīnshā Jiāng; literally "Golden Sands River") is the westernmost of the major headwater streams of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang).

It flows through Qinghai province in Tibet, and Sichuan and Yunnan provinces in southwestern China. The river passes through Tiger Leaping Gorge, and has portions within the Three Parallel Rivers of Yunnan Protected Areas.

The Jinsha River's headwaters rise in the Wulan and Kekexili ranges in western Qinghai province, to the south of the Kunlun Mountains, and on the northern slope of the Tanggula Mountains on the border of the Tibet Autonomous Region. The three principal headwaters — the Chumaer, Muluwusu, and Akedamu rivers — join to form the Tongtian River, which flows southeast to Zhimenda near the frontier between Qinghai and Sichuan provinces.

As the Jinsha River (Jīnshā Jiāng), it then flows south through a deep gorge parallel to the similar gorges of the upper Mekong and upper Salween rivers, from which it is separated by the Ningjing Mountains. It forms the western border of Sichuan for some 250 miles (400 km) and then flows into Yunnan province. After a large, 200 mile (320 km) long loop to the north of Dali Bai Autonomous Prefecture, the Jinsha swings northeast, forming the Sichuan-Yunnan provincial boundary until it joins the Min River at Yibin in Sichuan to form the Yangtze.