The results of a multicenter study on the etiology and treatment changes of male urethral strictures in China, initiated by the Department of Urology of our hospital, were recently published in the internationally renowned urology journal BJU int. The data of 4764 male urethral stenosis patients admitted to 13 medical centers (The Sixth People’s Hospital of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, West China Hospital of Sichuan University, The First Hospital of Peking University, The Second Hospital of Tianjin Medical University, The Second Hospital of Lanzhou University, The First Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine, The Second Hospital of Soochow University, The Union Hospital of Fujian Medical University, The First Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, The People’s Hospital of Qinghai Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of China Medical University, The People’s Hospital of Henan Province, The First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University) from 2005 to 2010 were retrospectively collected. We analyzed the main causes of urethral stricture, treatment methods, and changes in the causes and treatment techniques over time. The results showed that the two most common causes of urethral stricture in 4764 patients were trauma in 2466 cases (51.76%) and medical origin in 1643 cases (34.49%). From 2004 to 2006, the endoluminal technique was the most common treatment for urethral strictures (54%), whereas from 2007 to 2009, the use of this technique decreased (32.75%), with a statistically significant difference between the two (P < 0.01). 2007 to 2009, urethral anastomosis and urethral substitution increased each year (39.93%, 27.32%). Conclusion: Trauma and medically induced injury are common causes of urethral stricture and have gradually increased in recent years; the main treatment methods for urethral stricture are intracavitary minimally invasive surgery and open urethroplasty. From 2007 to 2009, the proportion of intracavitary surgery decreased significantly, while the proportion of open urethroplasty increased significantly.