ObjectiveTo understand the current situation of medical waste management in primary medical institutions in China. MethodsThe management of medical waste in 95 primary medical institutions in 5 provinces of China in 2016 were investigated. ResultsOf 95 primary medical institutions, 90(94.74%) dispose medical waste by centralized processing, 92(96.84%) separately collect medical waste, 89(93.68%) have  specific locations for temporary waste storage and handover registration, 46(48.42%) have wastewater treatment facilities, and are responsible by fulltime or parttime personnel. Before 2000, only 4 (4.21%) primary medical institutions carried out medical waste classification management and centralized disposal, which increased to 92（96.84%）and 90(94.74%) respectively in 2014; before 2000, only 5（5.26%）primary medical institutions conducted temporarily medical waste storage and treatment, which increased to 89（93.68%）in 2014.ConclusionMedical waste management in primary medical institutions has been improved significantly, but there still remain some problems, training relevant to waste management knowledge needs to be strengthened among health care workers, medical waste management procedures should be standardized, sound medical waste management and supervision system should be improved.