Objective To investigate the expressions of X-linked inhibitor of apoptosis protein （XIAP） and survivin in primary hepatocellular carcinoma tissues，and to explore the relationship between them. Methods The expressions of XIAP and survivin protein in 38 primary hepatocellular carcinoma tissues and 16 paracancerous tissues were detected by using immunohistochemistry and the expressions were scored. Results The positive expression rate of XIAP and survivin in primary hepatocellular carcinoma tissues was 81.6% （31/38）and 78.9% （30/38），respctively （P＜0.001）， and in paracancerous tissues was 12.5% （2/16）and 6.3% （1/16）， respectively （P＜0.001）. The score of XIAP expression in the well， middle，and low differentiated tissues of primary hepatocellular carcinoma was （2.91±1.31），（9.27±3.25）， and （13.08±2.26） score， respectively （F=118.948，P＜0.001）， and the score of survivin expression was （4.85±1.83）， （11.08±3.72），and （13.38±1.76） score， respectively （F=72.202，P＜0.001）. They both significantly correlated with the histological grade，but not with the size of tumor（P＞0.05）. There was significantly correlation between the expression intensity of XIAP and survivin in primary hepatocellular carcinoma tissues （r=0.764， P＜0.001）. Conclusions The expression intensity of XIAP and survivin in primary hepatocellular carcinoma tissues are both related with the differentiation of primary hepatocellular carcinoma. The expression intensity of XIAP is related with the survivin， and they may play an important role in the tumor progression and chemical resistances.