Objective To investigate the value of new double-phasic MR contrast agent (gadobenate dimeglumine， Gd-BOPTA) in diagnosis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) with correlation of pathology. Methods MRI scan was performed on 33 patients suspected of having focal liver lesions by CT or ultrasonography. The MRI scan protocol included routine axial T1WI and T2WI, coronal T2WI and 3D-MRCP, Gd-BOPTA enhanced 3D gradient-echo sequence of T1W (LAVA sequence) acquiring dynamic data at 15 s, 55 s and 90 s respectively, delayed LAVA acquisition at 5 min, 10 min, and at 40 min, 80 min respectively. Surgical specimen was collected for pathological analysis. Results Surgery confirmed the diagnosis of HCC in 21 patients with 27 lesions. The sensitivity, specificity and accuracy of MR imaging with combined phases (including hemodynamic phase and hepatobiliary phase) were 92.9%,93.3%, 92.9% respectively. ①In the hemodynamic phase: 22 lesions showed early enhancement in arterial phase, fast “washout” in portal venous phase, and hypointense in delayed phase. Four lesions showed slight enhancement, while 1 lesion showed no enhancement in all hemodynamic phases. ②In the hepatobiliary phase: 23 lesions showed homogeneous hypointensity compared to the enhanced liver background, but 4 lesions (3 well-differentiated and 1 moderately-differentiated) had patchy or dot-like slightly hyperintense areas scattered within the lesions. Pathologically cholestatic changes of tumor cells were observed and bile-containing small ducts were present. Conclusion Gd-BOPTA enhanced MRI can both depict the hemodynamic characteristics and reflect the absence of normal hepatocyte function in HCC lesions, thus contributing greatly to the diagnosis of HCC.