Over the past 50 years, four large-scale population-based sample surveys on the prevalence of hypertension have been conducted in China. Although the size, age and diagnostic criteria of each survey were not consistent, they basically reflected the obvious rising trend of hypertension prevalence in our population over the past 50 years in a more objective way. According to the 2002 survey data, the prevalence of hypertension in adults over 18 years of age in China was 18.8%, and according to the number and structure of our population in 2010, it is estimated that there are currently about 200 million hypertensive patients in China, with 2 out of every 10 adults suffering from hypertension, accounting for about 1/5 of the total number of hypertensive people worldwide. Among the hypertensive population in China, the vast majority of them are mild and moderate hypertension (90%). Mild hypertension accounts for more than 60%. The proportion of people with high normal blood pressure levels in the total population is increasing, especially among young and middle-aged people, which has increased from 29% in 1991 to 34% in 2002, and is the main source of the continuous increase in the prevalence of hypertension in China and the sharp increase in the number of patients. It is estimated that there are 10 million new hypertensive patients in China every year. In general, the prevalence of hypertension increases with age; prevalence is slightly lower in women than in men before menopause, but increases rapidly after menopause, even more than in men; prevalence is higher in colder regions at high latitudes than in warmer regions at low latitudes; and the higher the salt and saturated fat intake, the higher the average blood pressure level and prevalence. The prevalence of hypertension in China’s population has two distinctive features: from the south to the north, the prevalence of hypertension tends to increase, which may be related to the lower average annual temperature in the north and the higher salt intake of the northern population; there are also some differences in the prevalence of hypertension among different ethnic groups, with higher prevalence among Tibetans, Mongolians and Koreans living in the north or highland areas, and among Zhuang, Miao and Yi living in the south or non-highland areas. This difference may be related to geographical environment and lifestyle, but no significant genetic background differences have been found among ethnic groups.