The burden of cancer in China is increasing with future psycho-oncological interventions crucial. A systematic review of psycho-oncology research in China was undertaken to assess quantity, design and target trends over time. Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL, ProQuest, Web of Science (1999-November Week 4, 2012) were searched. Inclusion criteria were: included cancer patients and/or partners or caregivers from resident Chinese populations (either at least 80% of participants are from China, Hong Kong or Taiwan); assessed psychological adjustment relating to cancer and published in English after 1 January 1999 and prior to 30 November 2012. In all, 208 articles met inclusion criteria. Of these: 52 were cross-sectional descriptive quantitative; 30 were cross-sectional descriptive qualitative; 27 were prospective descriptive quantitative; 2 were prospective descriptive qualitative; 18 assessed interventions; 79 presented instrument validation. Publications increased eightfold from 1999 to 2012. Most studies included patients (n = 195) with 11 articles focusing on caregivers and two on patient-caregiver dyads. The most common cancer studied was breast cancer. The psycho-oncology research effort in China is dramatically increasing. A focus on culturally relevant approaches to underpin the evaluation of empirically derived interventions is warranted; as is direction of efforts to other cancers such as lung and prostate.