Objective Since 2009, assessment of asthma control in Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) includes current clinical control and future risk. " Current clinical control” is replaced by " symptom control” in GINA 2015, and lung function is excluded from assessment of current clinical control. This study was designed to investigate the agreement in current asthma control assessment between GINA 2009 and 2015, and to explore whether FEV1 monitoring plays an important role in this context. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted among patients with stable asthma (n=138). The levels of asthma control were graded by GINA 2009 and GINA 2015, respectively. Demographic data, spirometry, exacerbations in the past 12 months, peripheral blood cells, induced sputum were collected. Kappa coefficient was used to measure the agreement of the two asthma control tools. Association of the asthma control levels using the two tools with the exacerbations in the past 12 months was examined by Spearman correlations. Additionally, associations of lung function with the exacerbations in the past 12 months were analyzed. Results Agreement in assessing current asthma control between GINA 2009 and 2015 was moderate (Kappa=0.595, P<0.001). Compared with GINA 2009, the patients with well-controlled asthma assessed by GINA 2015 had worse FEV1%pred [(89.9±12.9)% vs. (79.9±18.2)%, P=0.013], the partly controlled subjects assessed by GINA 2015 had worse asthma control scores in ACQ-6 score (0.8±0.7 vs. 1.1±0.7, P=0.028) and ACT score (20.7±2.5 vs. 19.4±2.5, P=0.007). Furthermore, asthma control levels assessed by either GINA 2015 or 2009 were related to exacerbations in the past 12 months and stronger relationship was presented in GINA 2015 (r=–0.268 for GINA 2015 vs. r=–0.212 for GINA 2009, respectively). In addition, there were no differences in cell counts in induced sputum or peripheral blood or IgE level in peripheral blood in patients with different asthma control levels assessing by GINA 2009 and 2015. Conclusions Our study indicates that it has a moderate agreement of assessing current asthma control between GINA 2015 and 2009. Compared with GINA 2009, absence of FEV1 monitoring from GINA 2015 would result in worse lung function in well-controlled asthma and worse asthma control scores in partly controlled asthma. Addition of FEV1 monitoring to GINA 2015 would weaken the relationship between current asthma control and future asthma outcomes, although it didn't reach statistical significance. Our study supports that GINA 2015 lacking lung function monitoring in current asthma control assessment is applicable in clinical practice.