ObjectiveTo systematically review the unfavorable treatment outcome of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in China. MethodsCNKI, WanFang Data, CBM, PubMed, EMbase, and Web of Science databases were electronically searched to collect studies that reported unfavorable treatment outcomes of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in China from inception to April 2021. Two reviewers independently screened literature, extracted data, and assessed the risk of bias of included studies. Meta-analysis was then performed by using Stata 12.0 software. ResultsA total of 11 studies involving 4 465 patients were included. The results of meta-analysis showed that the overall rate of treatment success was 62% (95%CI 55% to 70%), the rate of treatment failure was 19% (95%CI 12% to 26%), the rate of default was 7% (95%CI 4% to 10%), the rate of mortality was 6% (95%CI 4% to 8%) and the rate of unfavorable treatment outcome was 25% (95%CI 19% to 32%). ConclusionsCurrent evidence shows that the treatment failure rate of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in China is slightly high. Due to limited quality and quantity of the included studies, more high-quality studies are required to verify the above conclusions.