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Initialization and the spin‐up effect are critical to model performance in the four‐dimensional variational data assimilation (4DVar) system. The incremental analysis update (IAU) technique is able to combat these problems. This study introduces the IAU technique into the 4DVar framework (IAU‐4DVar) of the operational China Meteorological Administration Global Forecast System (CMA‐GFS) and evaluates the performance of the IAU‐4DVar. In this IAU‐4DVar framework, the initial increments optimally estimated are split up into equally weighted forcing terms and integrated into the tangent model and its adjoint model. Then, the optimal estimation of the analysis increment is gradually introduced into the model integration during the assimilation window. A set of two‐month assimilation and forecast experiments were established and executed in this study, and the preliminary results show that the IAU technique can reduce the spin‐up effect of the initial analysis increment from the operational 4DVar system with digital filter initialization (DFI‐4DVar) by retaining the balance in dynamics and thermodynamics. In the optimal minimization process, the IAU‐4DVar converges faster than the DFI‐4DVar with a reduction of the computational cost of up to ca 40%. In addition, the introduction of IAU‐4DVar into the CMA‐GFS model could have a positive impact on the analysis and forecast skills relative to the operational DFI‐4DVar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]