Objective To establish a Chinese clinical controlled trials database of neurology. Methods We identified relevant studies by electronic searching of CBMdisc from 1978 to April 2002, and the Library of Evidence-Based Medicine (Chinese). We also searched manually 11 journals and 4 conference proceedings relevant to neurological diseases. The studies included in this database should be controlled studies relevant to treatment on neurological disease, randomized or only controlled without randomization. Results 3 641 studies were included in this database. Conclusions The Chinese neurological trials database was established. This database will provide Chinese evidence on treatments of various neurological diseases. Studies in this database will also be included in the Cochrane Library to facilitate systematic reviewers.