Objective：To investigate the mechanism of yes - associated protein(YAP)in promoting the migration and invasion of hepatocellular carcinoma cells through regulating the expression of eukaryotic translation elongation factor 1 alpha 2(EEF1A2). Methods：YAP and EEF1A2 were knockdown or overexpressed in human hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)cell lines(SMMC-7721 and SK - HEP1)respectively. Transwell assays were performed to examine the changes of the migratory and invasive ability of the HCC cells. Reverse transcription-quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction(RT-qPCR)and Western blot were conducted to evaluate the expression of the indicated genes in HCC cells. Cleavage under targets and release using nuclease(CUT&RUN)-qPCR assay was performed to evaluate whether YAP interacts with the promoter of EEF1A2. Results：Upregulation of EEF1A2 was shown in HCC tissues，and the expression of YAP and EEF1A2 was positively correlated with the spontaneous migratory potential of HCC cell lines. EEF1A2 facilitated the migration and invasion of the low migratory potential SMMC7721 cells and the high migratory potential SK-HEP1 cells and regulated the expression of Snail and E-cadherin，which are two well-characterized epithelial-mesenchymal transition(EMT) markers. The results further showed that YAP regulated HCC cell migration and invasion by up - regulating EEF1A2. In addition， CUT&RUN-qPCR analysis demonstrated YAP occupancy at the promoter of the EEF1A2 in HCC cells. Conclusion：YAP up-regulates the expression of EEF1A2 through interacting with the sequence on the promoter of the EEF1A2，and subsequently promotes HCC cell migration and invasion.