Abstract： Objective To examine the relationship between alcohol consumption and the incidence of metabolic syndrome (MS) in Chinese adults.Methods A total of 27020 Chinese adults aged 35 to 74years were enrolled in this prospective cohort study.Frequency or type of alcohol consunption was assessed in 1998 and 2000.Follow-up study on MS was conducted during 2007 and 2008.Results Over an average 8years' follow-up,2362 MS patients were identified among 14 572 individuals who did not have MS at baseline.After adjustment for age,location,education level,physical activity,cigarette smoking,body mass index and the number of MS components,compared with non-drinkers,relative risk ( RR ( 95％ confidence interval (CI))) and the Population Attributable Risk Percent (PARP) of MS of male drinkers was 1.24( 1.06 to 1.45 ) and 10.13％,respectively.RR (95 ％ CI) of MS was 1.36 ( 1.02 to 1.82 ),1.34 ( 1.03 to 1.74) and 1.41 (1.13 to 1.77) for male drinkers consuming alcohol 10.1 -20 g/d,20.1 -40 g/d,and ＞40 g/d.RR(95％ CI) of MS was 1.25 ( 1.01 to 1.55) for males drinking 2 -5 times/week and 1.26(1.04 to 1.52) for males drinking ≥6 times/week.RR (95％ CI) of MS was 1.60 ( 1.05 to 2.45),1.30(1.02 to 1.65) and 1.27 (1.06 to 1.52) for beer,liquor and the beer + liquor male consumers.The corresponding RR(95％ CI) was 2.67(1.26 to 5.65) and 3.38 (1.35 to 4.22) for female drinkers consuming alcohol 10.1 -20 g/d and ＞20 g/d.Conclusions Drinking alcohol more than 10 g/d may be associated with an increasing risk of MS,especially for women.Drinking more than twice per week,beer and/or liquor consumption can significantly increase the risk of MS in men.