Objective To survey the prevalence of coexisting chronic obstructive pulmonary disease ( COPD) and chronic heart failure in Chengdu communities. Methods A cross-sectional study was performed in the population aged over 40 years in eight communities of Chengdu city. The subjects were selected by stratified cluster random sampling. Using the same protocol and questionnaire, all participants underwent medical history taking, physical examination and spirometry. Results Of 354 participating patients with a diagnosis of COPD, 74 ( 20. 90% ) cases were complicated with chronic heart failure. The prevalence of chronic heart failure in COPD in male was significantly higher than that in female ( 22. 69%vs. 18. 12% , P lt; 0. 05) . The major causes of chronic heart failure were hypertension ( 31. 64% ) , ischaemic heart disease ( 18. 93% ) , chronic pulonary heart disease ( 17. 51% ) and diabetes ( 11. 86% ) .Conclusions The prevalence of coexisting COPD and chronic heart failure in Chengdu city is significantly higher than the average level of the whole country, which warrant more attention in prevention and treatment of COPD in communities.