AIM: To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in northern Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study was performed between May 2011 and April 2012. A total of 1100 patients (male/female, 483/617) were included in this study. DR was defined following the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) severity scale. All included patients accepted a comprehensive ophthalmic examination including retinal photographs. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence interval (CI) after adjusting for age and gender. RESULTS: Retinopathy was present in 307 patients with a prevalence of 27.9%. In univariate logistic analysis, presence of DR was associated with longer duration of diabetes (OR, 5.70; 95%CI, 2.91-12.56), higher concentration of fasting blood glucose (OR, 12.94; 95%CI, 2.40-67.71), higher level of glycosylated hemoglobin HbA1c (OR, 5.50; 95%CI, 3.78-11.97) and insulin treatment (OR, 6.99; 95%CI, 1.39-35.12). The lifestyle of patients with T2DM including smoking, alcohol consumption and regular exercise seemed not associated with the development of DR. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that fasting serum glucose concentration, HbA1c level, duration of diabetes and insulin treatment are potential risk factors for DR in northern Chinese patients with T2DM, while the lifestyle of included patients seems not associated with DR.