ObjectivesTo systematically review the training needs of managing staffs in tertiary hospitals in China, to understand the requirements of in-service training for hospital managing staffs, and to provide references for the target and content of tertiary hospital managing staff training.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP databases were searched to collect cross-sectional studies on the training needs of managing staffs in tertiary hospitals in China. The retrieval time was from inception to July 29th, 2018. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted the data and descriptive analysis was conducted on the training needs of managing staffs in tertiary hospitals.ResultsA total of 11 studies were included. The results of systematic review suggested that: as for the requirements of training content, hospital management, leadership, personnel training, human resource management and innovation awareness were the most demanding training contents. As for the training methods, experience exchange, case study and topic teaching were the most popular. As for the training time, 2 to 3 days of quarterly training was the most acceptable training time.ConclusionsThere are great training requirements for managing staffs in tertiary hospitals in China, with a large amount of training content and diversity methods. In future, training objectives and methods should be designed to meet the requirements of managing staffs, so as to enhance training quality and achieve training goals.