The stagnation and dehydration of the Pacific Plate slab in the mantle transition zone are widely accepted to have resulted in Mesozoic and Cenozoic volcanic activities and the formation of the Songliao Basin in NE China. However, this notion has been challenged by recent seismic studies. Alternatively, a mantle plume may have generated large-scale volcanism and led to the formation of the Songliao Basin. In this study, a detailed analysis involving common conversion point (CCP) stacking of receiver functions was carried out. The results reveal a significantly deepened region of the 410 km discontinuity and an elevated region of the 660 km discontinuity in the centre of NE China (or the Songliao Basin). The combination of these results with those of a previous study suggests that an upwelling mantle plume was located under the centre of the Songliao Basin in the Mesozoic. Furthermore, the distinctive structure of the mantle transition zone (MTZ) beneath the southern part of the Songliao Basin identified in this study is correspond to mantle plume upwelling (a mushroom-shaped low-velocity anomaly), which may be related to the Changbaishan volcanic activities in the Cenozoic.