The overall incidence of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) in China showed an upward trend compared to 10 years ago. Bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an important contributing factor for improved OHCA survival. However, huge challenges remained in China: The rate of public CPR training, bystander CPR rates, and OHCA survival were all < 1 %. The purpose of this review was to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the current situation of CPR training in China and put forward strategic suggestions to improve the survival outcomes of OHCA.