Objective To investigate the learning curve of laparoscopic assisted rectal cancer radical resection of a surgeon and share the experience of laparoscopic surgery. Methods The date of 119 consecutive patients who were suffered operation by same team during January 2010 to December 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. The learning curve and its stages were obtained by using weighted moving average method, cumulative sum analysis(CUSUM), risk-adjusted CUSUM (RA-CUSUM)and Matlab software. The effects of each stage, such as operative time, intraoperative bold loss, harvested lymph node numbers, distal margin to the edge of tumor, complications after operation, hospital stay days, and the first time take soft food were compared, and the experience of laparoscopic assisted surgery for rectal cancer was summarized. Results Our learning curve was divided into three periods, the cutting point was around 36th and 80th cases, respectively. There was no significant difference between the 3 stages in general data, however when comparing the operative time, loss of blood, harvested lymph node numbers, the distal margin to the edge of tumor, hospital stay and total complications, the last period were best and the first stage were worst. Conclusions The learning curve can be divided into three stages, the exploration, mastery and proficient period. Our term, fixed and with rich experience in laparotomy, completed our first exploration period at about 36th patients and the second stage is around 80th cases. And the short term effect of each period’s had gradually improved with master of laparoscopic technique.