The research on ground settlement induced by tunnel construction usually assumes that the ground is horizontal. Currently, there is insufficient research on ground settlement for large-diameter shield or pipe jacking tunnel engineering under complex boundary conditions near existing river channels. An analytical solution of the surface settlement caused by tunneling near the existing river channel was proposed, based on the background of a slurry balanced pipe jacking tunnel project in Hangzhou and considering the non-uniform convergence of the soil with the virtual mirror technology and the superposition method. The comparison with the measured data verified the rationality of the solution. Further parameter analysis showed that the smaller the horizontal distance between the tunnel and the river channel, the more significant the asymmetry of surface settlement trough, and the greater the surface settlement induced by the tunneling. Compared to the absence of a river channel, the peak increase in settlement trough may be greater than 30%. Tunneling construction was advised to be as far away from the river channel as possible in the actual project from the perspective of environmental protection and construction safety. The surface settlement caused by the tunneling decreased as the burial depth of the tunnel increased. The surface settlement near the river channel was significantly greater than that with the absence of the river channel, when the depth of the arch waist of the tunnel was greater than the depth of the adjacent river channel. In this sense, more attention should be paid to the influence of the existing river channel.