To reveal the mechanism for high brake thermal efficiency (BTE) of diesel methanol dual fuel (DMDF) engine meeting China VI emission regulations without urea, experimental and computational methods were used to study the exergy distribution with different regulatory strategies. As the methanol energy ratio (MER) increased, the incomplete combustion exergy loss increased from 0.3 % to 5.5 %, while the exhaust exergy loss and heat transfer exergy loss decreased slightly. As the HP-EGR increased from 3 % to 23 %, exergy losses of incomplete combustion and exhaust decreased, resulting in a reduction in the engine exergy losses. As the LP-EGR increased from 3 % to 21 %, the exergy losses of heat transfer and incomplete combustion slightly decreased. By advancing the main injection timing, the decrease in exhaust flow rate and temperature led to a decrease in exhaust exergy loss and the combustion efficiency was improved from 95.0 % to 96.5 %. Both of them resulted in the highest exergy efficiency of 35.2 % at 12°CA BTDC. Finally, the exergy distributions of DMDF and diesel modes were compared at high and low loads. The research results can provide theoretical basis and engineering practical value for the development and optimization of DMDF engines from the perspective of exergy.