Abstract:Objective To systematically evaluate the prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) by meta-analysis in adult Chinese aged 20 years or over from January 1996 to October 2016. Methods A systematic literature search was conducted in China National Knowledge Internet(CNKI), VIP Chinese Journal Database (VIP), EMbase, Cochrane and Pubmed for the prevalence of T2DM among adult Chinese aged over 20 years from January 1996 to October 2016. I2 test for heterogeneity among studies was performed using Comprehensive Meta-analysis (CMA, version 2.2). Fixed effect model or random effect model was employed to analyze the overall prevalence of T2DM and the differences between different population groups. Results A total of 30 pertinent articles were selected for the final analysis, with overall quality of the literature being good. The prevalence of T2DM in adult Chinese was 6.6%(95%CI 5.5-7.9). In terms of age, the prevalence was 1.7%(95%CI 1.2-2.2) among those aged 20-39, 6.7%(95%CI 5.2-8.6) among those aged 40-59, and 14.7%(95%CI 12.2-17.7) among those aged over 60 years, the difference being statistically significant (P<0.05). In terms of locality, the prevalence was 6.8%(95%CI 5.0-9.3) in the urban areas as against 3.7%(95%CI 2.4-5.6) in the rural areas with no significant difference (P>0.05). In terms of gender, the prevalence was 6.3%(95%CI 5.0-7.8) in men and 6.3%(95%CI 5.3-7.4) in women, with no significant difference (P>0.05). In terms of economic zone, the prevalence was 3.2%(95%CI 2.5-4.2) in central economic zone, 5.9%(95%CI 4.3-7.9) in the western economic zone, and 6.5% (95%CI 5.1-8.1) in the eastern economic zone, that in central economic zone being significantly lower than that in western and eastern economic zones (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference between the eastern and western zones (P>0.05). In terms of educational level, the prevalence was 6.9%(95%CI 4.4-10.7) in those with an education of primary school and before, 4.6%(95%CI 3.3-6.4) in those with an education of secondary school, and 4.3%(95%CI 2.9-6.4) in those with an education of tertiary institution and beyond. The prevalence of T2DM decreased with the level of education, but there was no significant difference (P>0.05). Conclusion From 1996 to 2016, the prevalence of T2DM in adult Chinese aged 20 years and over increased with age and was lower in the central part of China than in the eastern and western parts. Measures for prevention and control of T2DM should be further strengthened according to the demographic and regional characteristics.