Objective To analyze the current situation and development trend of nuclear medicine in China and to provide references for the scientific and effective utilization of nuclear medicine resources and the formulation of development policies by relevant competent authorities.

Methods The current situation and development trend of nuclear medicine in China were analyzed using five censuses conducted by the Chinese Society of Nuclear Medicine that contain basic information on the discipline, drug preparation, equipment, personnel, teaching and training, and development restrictions for the department.

Results The number of nuclear medicine-related departments has increased remarkable and reached 927 in 2018, which is 5.94% higher than that in 2010. The highest increase of 27.29% was observed from 601 in 2010 to 765 in 2018. The number of self-made positron radiopharmaceuticals also increased from 46 in 2012 to 107 in 2018, and those of positron and single-photon imaging equipment increased by 122.46% and 41.65%, respectively, from 138 and 605 in 2012 to 307 and 857 in 2018, respectively. The number of personnel in nuclear medicine departments was 6838 in 2010 and increased to 9090 in 2018. In addition, 112 and 223 teaching institutions (from 52 and 98 in 2014 and 2010, respectively) have become available to train doctoral and master students, respectively, in 2018. The factors restricting the advancement of departments include administrative and economic constraints, insufficient publicity, and lack of talents, equipment, knowledge, and scientific research.

Conclusions At present, the current status of nuclear medicine in the country has a good development trend, and it is becoming more and more perfect in the training of nuclear medicine talents and discipline construction. The hospital has formed a good training ladder and a talent team with a reasonable structure. However, there are still many factors restricting the development of nuclear medicine. In order to better promote the development of nuclear medicine in China, relevant authorities should issue corresponding policies to provide guidance and support.