Abstract: Objective To investigate the training need among food safety inspectors in rural areas.Methods A questionnaire survey on training need was conducted among rural food safety inspectors in April 2010.Totally 1 511 food safety inspectors were selected from 7 pilot counties.Results Among the inspectors,92.5% (1 397) thought that it was necessary to take training on food safety inspection and law enforcement and 42.5% (642) believed that the main problems for the inspectors were lacking professional competency and training.There was a significant difference in the score of know ledge on law s and regulations betw een the inspectors with and without pre-job training (t=15.20,P< 0.001).There was also a significant difference in the score of consciousness of law enforcement betw een the inspectors with and without pre-job training(t=44.62,P< 0.001).Conclusion Strengthening the training among food safety inspectors is helpful for enhancing professional competency of rural food safety inspectors and improving food safety management capacity in rural areas.