Abstract: Objective To compare different criteria established by National Cholesterol Education Program’s Adult Treatment Panel Ⅲ（ NCEP / ATP Ⅲ）,International Diabetes Federation（ IDF）,and Chinese Diabetes Society（ CDS） for diagnosis of metabolic syndrome（ MS） among hypertension patients. Methods Totally 2 994 hypertention patients were recruited from 24 communities in Yinchuan city,Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region with cluster random sampling. The prevalences of MS diagnosed with the 3 crieria were analyzed. Results The overall prevalence of MS was 37. 4%,47. 0%,and 38. 6% according to NCEP / ATP Ⅲ,IDF,and CDS criteria,respectively（ ATP vs CDS: = 454. 19,ATP vs IDF: = 457. 99,IDF vs CDS: = 793. 07,P ＜ 0. 001 for all） among the patients. In contrast to CDS definition,the prevalence of MS in males diagnosed with NCEP / ATP Ⅲ and IDF was significantly lower than those in females（ P ＜0. 001）. The prevalence of the MS was higher in men（ 42. 1%） than in women（ 36. 4%） using CDS definition but this gender difference was reversed when using the NCEP / ATP Ⅲ（ 25. 8% for males vs 44. 6% for females） and the IDF（ 39. 9% for males vs 51. 5% for females） criteria. Different criteria resulted in the same increased prevalence of MS with age（ P ＜ 0. 05）. Consistency in MS diagnosis with NCEP / ATP Ⅲ and CDS was higher in the patients of different gender and age（ Kappa = 0. 514,P ＜ 0. 001）. In the hypertension patients with one metabolic disorder,the comorbidity rate of hypertension with dyslipidemia was the highest based on the criteria of NECP / ATP Ⅲ（ 46. 5%）,IDF（ 23. 9%）,and CDS（ 22. 2%）. In the hypertension patients with two metabolic disorders,the comorbidity rate of hypertension with obesity and dyslipidemia was the highest based on the 3 different criteria（ 11. 2% for NECP / ATP Ⅲ,34. 3% for IDF,and 25. 3% for CDS）. The comorbidity rates of hypertension with obesity,dyslipidemia and diabetes mellitus based on NCEP / ATP Ⅲ,IDF and CDS criteria were 2. 5%,11. 1% and 5. 4%,respectively. Conclusion The MS is highly prevalent among hypertension patients. Compared with NCEP / ATP Ⅲ and CDS criteria,the diagnostic rate of MS by IDF criteria is higher.