ObjectiveTo systematically review the prevalence of low back pain in adult population in China, so as to provide a reliable scientific basis for further scientific research and social decision-making of low back pain.MethodsPubMed, EMbase, VIP, WanFang Data and CNKI databases were electronically searched to collect the studies on prevalence of low back pain in adult population in China from inception to October 28, 2017. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data and assessed risk of bias of included studies. Then, systematic review was performed.ResultsA total of 16 studies were included. The results showed that: significant heterogeneity had been observed among the different studies. The previous affected prevalence was 7.21% to 39.0%, annual prevalence was 20.88% to 29.88%, and time period prevalence was 6.11% to 28.5%. Six studies reported the different prevalence between genders, in which only one study found a little higher prevalence in male, and the other five found higher prevalence in females than males.ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that there is significant heterogeneity in studies on prevalence of low back pain among adults in China, and all of them are data from a single province or region. It is suggested that a national prospective survey should be conducted to provide more accurate epidemiological data.