An engine exhaust gas cleaning apparatus is provided to minimize torque shock as during regeneration of an exhaust gas cleaning device. The engine exhaust gas cleaning apparatus comprises a fuel delivery device that delivers fuel to an engine at a lean excess air ratio during normal operation of the engine; a NOx trapping catalytic converter that adsorbs NOx from the exhaust gas during the lean operation; a regeneration control section that adjusts the excess air ratio to a rich target value to regenerate the NOx trapping catalytic converter; a feedback control section that feedback-controls the fuel delivery quantity to hold the excess air ratio at the target value during regeneration; a feedback control restricting section that restricts the feedback control during regeneration until the difference between the target value and the actual excess air ratio is less than a prescribed value.