OBJECTIVES: Incidence of hepatitis C viral infection (HCV) is increasing in China and HCV represents considerable disease burden to the country. As there is no published data on treatment costs to HCV in China, this study reports key findings from a recent survey to examine treatment costs in the country. METHODS: A cross sectional survey was conducted in 2012 among 29 hospitals across China. Data were collected from patients who visited either outpatient or inpatient settings, including patient demographics, coverage of health insurance, and costs to treat HCV related visits. Results were analyzed by descriptive statistics. RESULTS: A total of 1,116 patients participated into this survey. Males (52.6%) were slightly more than females.  The average age was 45.5 years old and 49.9 years old for outpatient and inpatient cases, respectively. Patients who were in their productive age groups (30 to 49 years old) are the majority (48.7%). While most of the inpatient cases had health insurance coverage, 49.6% of the outpatient cases were out of pocket. Medium cost for an HCV related hospital admission was 8,212 RMB (or 1,369 USD); of which medications, both western and traditional medicines, cost 61.1%. This study found that more advanced the disease progress, higher costs to the condition: for chronic HCV, cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma, the medium costs were 8,111 RMB (1,351 USD), 8,399 RMB (1,399 USD), and 14,425 RMB (2,404 USD), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Key findings suggest that (1) a better disease management strategy help to improve the national economy in long term; (2) the needs for an early and successful treatment to these patients to reduce the finance burden; and (3) an improvement of health policy, especially on health insurance , would result in better treatment and disease management to HCV in China.