OBJECTIVES: Chinese state-owned enterprise affiliated hospitals (SOEH) account for a great percentage of all hospitals in China. During the transition from a centrally planned economy to a market economy with Chinese characteristics, reform has been implemented on state-owned enterprises in last two decades, while the SOEHs also experience various kinds of reform. The objective of this study is to provide a preliminary evaluation on the reform of SOEHs and raise applicable suggestions for further reform. METHODS: We conducted a survey on SOEHs in all 31 provinces in China, collecting information on status of reform, the form of restructure, the size of hospital, the workforce, financial statement and so on. For comparison, we collected statistical data on Health Sector Affiliated Hospitals (HSH) from China Health Year Book. RESULTS: We received feedback from 1,290 SOEHs totally. In 2012, there were 3,619 SOEHs accounting for 16% of all the hospitals in China.  Most SOEHs (79.5%) were identified as small hospitals with less than 100 beds, a much higher percentage than all hospitals in China (59.6%). In our survey samples, there were 300 SOEHs (23.2%) being reformed, and 29  SOEHs had  undergone a second reform due to previous unsuccessful reformation. Regarding performance, the operational efficiency in SOEHs was lower with the bed usage ratio of 60.7% in 2012 versus 96.9% of HSHs. Additionally, the average length of stay in SOEHs of 10.86 days was longer than the 10 days in HSHs. From 2008 to 2011, the SOEHs experienced increases in both outpatient visits and inpatient visits, but were less than HSHs. CONCLUSIONS: The recent performance of SOEHs is worse than HSHs. This indicates more analysis of diversified forms of SOEH restructuring, such as cooperating with social capital, and similar policy support as HSHs from the government would be needed to revitalize SOEHs.