Abstract: An austenitic stainless steel and a manufacturing process therefor are disclosed, in which, instead of the expensive Ni, there are added Cu as an austenite (.tau.) stabilizing element, and tiny amounts of Ti as a ferrite forming element and B for improvement of high temperature hot workability, so that the optimum Md.sub.30 temperature and the optimum delta-ferrite content can be controlled, thereby improving the formability, the season cracking resistance, the hot workability and the high temperature oxidation resistance, and reducing the surface defects during the hot rolling and saving the manufacturing cost by reducing the content of Ni. The austenitic stainless steel according to the present invention includes in weight %: less than 0.07% of C, less than 1.0% of Si, less than 2.0% of Mn, 16-18% of Cr, 6.0-8.0% of Ni, less than 0.005% of Al, less than 0.05% of P, less than 0.005% of S, less than 0.03% of Ti, less than 0.003% of B, less than 3.0% of Cu, less than 0.3% of Mo, less than 0.