Objective To estimate the epidemiological burden of bacterial foodborne diseases. Method The morbidity of diarrhea is calculated by reviewing literatures; the morbidity of foodborne disease is deduced by combining the diarrhea rate in gastroenteritis cases and the ratio of foodborn diseases to gastroenteritis; and also the admission rate. The death rate of bacterial foodborn diseases is calculated by combining the death rate of bacterial infectious diseases and the ratio of foodborne disease to infectious disease. Result There are 94 117 000 cases caused by bacterial foodborne diseases each year in China, 24 753 000 of them visiting doctors, 3 357 000 of them hospitalized and 8 530 deaths; the fatality rate is 0.0091%. Conclusion the burden of bacterial foodborne disease in China is still heavy. The study on foodborne disease burden around China should be developed in order to provide scientific data for WHO estimating the global foodborne disease burden.