信用证是国际贸易主要的结算方式之一，在国际结算方式中居于重要地位。随着国际贸易的发展，信用证的重要性也日益突显。作为一种成熟的国际结算方式，信用证已经形成一套比较完善的准则和程序，其中信用证的独立性原则是信用证赖以生存的最重要的准则之一。独立性原则的本质是指信用证虽然是依据基础合同而开立的，但它一经开立就成为独立于基础合同的自足的文件。 该原则使信用证成为一种能够相对平衡各方所承担的风险的工具。它通过明确信用证各方当事人和主要关系人的权利和义务，来保证国际结算的顺利进行。当然，信用证的独立性原则在带来巨大好处的同时，也存在着一些不足，对各方当事人和主要关系人产生不利的影响。本文通过对信用证的独立性原则进行概述，分析该原则在实务中的功能，并通过两个案例对该原则在贸易实务中的应用进行讨论，从而指明其存在的不足及对策。

Letter of Credit is the most import tool of the payment and settlement, and it is predominant in these tools. With the development of international trade, the importance of Letter of Credit is very significant. As a mature tool, Letter of Credit has formed a set of comparatively complete principles and procedures, in which the independence principle is the basis. The core of independence principle is that it is independent from contract once it is opened. It makes Letter of Credit becomes the tool , which can balance the risks of the related parties. Although its great advantages, it may have some shortcomings and do harm to them. Therefore, it is imperative for us to learn and master the independence principle in the practice.