Objective To investigate predictive value of procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels for spontaneous bacterial peritonitis (SBP) in patients with liver cirrhosis ascites. Methods The clinical data of 140 patients with liver cirrhosis ascites treated in our hospital from January 2012 to January 2016 were retrospectively analyzed. According to the presence of SBP, these patients were divided into SBP group and non-SBP group. The clinical data were compared between these two groups. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed to assess their sensitivities and specificities of PCT and CRP for diagnosis of SBP. Results The PCT and CRP levels of the SBP group were significantly higher than those of the non-SBP group (P<0.05). The differences of serum ALT, AST and white cell count between the SBP group and the non-SBP were not statistically significant (P>0.05). The ROC curve analysis showed that the area under the ROC curve of PCT and CRP were 0.895 and 0.926, their corresponding cut-off value 2.1 μg/L and 24.8 mg/L, the sensitivities were 86.9% and 89.5%, the specificities were 85.1% and 83.5%, respectively. Conclusion Abnormally elevated PCT and CRP levels might have an important detective value for SBP in patients with liver cirrhosis ascites.