Objective To systematically review the treatment outcomes of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patients, and to provide evidence for treatment. Methods Databases including PubMed, Web of Science, ScienceDirect, CNKI, WanFang Data and VIP were electronically searched to collect literature related to MDR-TB from inception to April 28th, 2021. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of the included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed using R 4.0.5 software, subgroup and meta-regression analyses were performed based on sample size, survey time, etc. Results A total of 36 studies involving 7 981 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that the overall treatment success rate of MDR-TB patients was 60% (95%CI 56% to 63%). The subgroup analysis showed that the treatment success rates of MDR-TB were 49% (95%CI 41% to 58%) from 1992 to 2010, 62% (95%CI 58% to 65%) from 2011 to 2015, and 62% (95%CI 55% to 68%) from 2016 to 2020; those with sample size above 100 and less than 100 were 60% (95%CI 55% to 65%) and 59% (95%CI 54% to 63%), respectively; those with average age above 45 and less than 45 were 58% (95%CI 51% to 65%) and 56% (95%CI 53% to 59%); those of MDR-TB were 63% (95%CI 57% to 68%) in central China, 63% (95%CI 52% to 73%) in the Northwest, 60% (95%CI 55% to 65%) in the Southeast, and 53% (95%CI 48% to 58%) in the Northeast. Conclusions The overall success rate of treatment for MDR-TB patients in China is low. Due to the limited quantity and quality of included studies, more high-quality studies are required to verify the above conclusions.