Objective To understand the willingness and demand to treat with Chinese medicine of patients with type 2 diabetes and to provide reference for the clinical practice of Chinese medicine treatment for type 2 diabetes.Methods Continuous sampling method for cross-sectional survey was used to collect information of the basic data of patients with type 2 diabetes

as well as the situation of their application of Chinese medicine treatment and the willingness to get Chinese medicine treatment. Epidata 3. 1 and SPSS 20 software were used for data entry and statistical analysis. The willingness of patients with type 2 diabetes to get the treatment of Chinese medicine and the main application population of Chinese medicine were discussed. Results Information of a total of 1286 inpatients with type 2 diabetes

including 220 cases complicated with retinopathy

was collected. The acceptance rates of Chinese medicine in patients with type 2 diabetes and those with retinopathy were respectively 46. 7%（ 600/1286） and 52. 7%（ 116/220）

and the application rates of Chinese medicine in the past 3 months were respectively 21. 8%（ 280/1286） and 24. 1%（ 53/220）. The reasons for patients accepting Chinese medicine treatment were good curative effect of Chinese medicine and willing to make an attempt. The reasons for not accepting Chinese medicine treatment were mainly that the curative effect of Chinese medicine on this disease was not yet clear and Chinese medicine decoction was inconvenient to take

etc. Conclusion Patients with type 2 diabetes show a higher demand for treatment of Chinese medicine. The demand rate of patients for Chinese medicine treatment is higher than the actual application rate.