A new type electro-hydraulic variable valve actuation (VVA) system is developed to realize homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI) combustion with different exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) strategies on a low speed single cylinder research engine. Power supply pressures and hydraulic piston geometries of the VVA system were firstly determined. Main orifice diameters for fluid charge and discharge were numerically studied with AMEsim software to figure out their optimal values. A damper system and a multi-discharge-orifice mechanism were designed to provide better solutions for actuator braking and for valve seating velocity reduction, respectively. Bench tests indicated that this system was capable to achieve flexible valve motions, such as variable valve timing, duration and lift, with dramatically improved valve lift overshoot and effectively reduced valve seating velocity at the full range of research engine speed. Experiment results revealed that this VVA system could be used to realize robust HCCI combustion by means of different EGR strategies.