[en] Highlights: • Weld corrosion resistance increases with the increase of laser-arc distance, D_LA. • Weld corrosion resistance is close to the baser metal as the D_LA increases to 9 mm. • The passive film is thickened with the D_LA by increasing weld Cr content. • The damage of passive film is slowed with the D_LA by homogenizing microstructure. Single pass laser-arc hybrid welding of stainless clad steel plate was first carried out to develop alternatives to multi-pass welding with low efficient or single pass welding with poor corrosion resistance. The results demonstrated that the weld corrosion resistance increased with the increase of laser-arc distance (D_LA), and the corrosion morphologies changed from big and deep ‘nail’ pits to small and shallow hemispherical pits. The weld with nearly equal corrosion resistance to the base metal (BM) could be obtained at the D_LA of 9 mm, where the charge transfer resistance increased to 89% of the BM and the corrosion current density decreased by ten times to close to the BM, only 0.13 μA·cm^{− 2} lower. The corrosion resistance improvement had a good agreement with the microstructure homogenization and the increase of Cr content. The microstructure formation was discussed by the molten pool behavior and the laser-arc interaction. The corrosion resistance improvement was explained by the formation and damage mechanism of the passive film.