Objective To summary the incidence rate and trends of cancers in China. MethodsBy compiling and analyzing the Chinese Cancer Registry Annual Report from 2008 to 2021, we summarized the regional and population distribution characteristics of overall and high-incidence rate cancers in China and analyzed influencing factors. ResultsFrom 2005 to 2018, the overall crude incidence of cancers in China showed a continuous upward trend. The incidence rate in the eastern region (incidence rate was 353.26/100 000 in 2018, the following data were crude incidence rate in 2018) was significantly higher than those in the central (269.47/100 000) and western regions (253.71/100 000), while the incidence rates in the central and western regions were closer. 2005–2018, the incidence rates of male was higher than that of female, and the population aged 80 years old or older (2 741.02/100 000) had the highest incidence rate of cancers, and the incidence rate of people aged 0–14 years old (41.38/100 000) was the lowest. From 2005–2018 (except for 2009), lung cancer (65.05/100 000), gastric cancer (27.03/100 000), liver cancer (27.42/100 000), colorectal cancer (30.51/100 000), and breast cancer (43.02/100 000) were the top 5 highest incidence rates of China’s cancers, of which lung cancer ranked the first in different regions, and the ranking of other cancers varied in different regions. The top 5 cancers in males’ incidence rates from 2005 to 2018 were lung cancer (83.45/100 000), gastric cancer (37.12/100 000), liver cancer (40.02/100 000), colorectal cancer (35.32/100 000) and esophageal cancer (26.30/100 000); the top 5 cancers in females’incidence rates had changed a lot in different years, breast cancer, lung cancer, colorectal cancer, gastric cancer, liver cancer, thyroid cancer and cervical cancer had all been in the top 5, for example, in 2018, the top 5 cancers in female were lung cancer (46.10/100 000), breast cancer (43.02/100 000), colorectal cancer (25.56/100 000), thyroid cancer (24.60/100 000) and cervical cancer (18.10/100 000).ConclusionsThe crude incidence rate of cancers in China continues to rise, with the cancer spectrum showing new characteristics that combine high-incidence rate cancers in developed countries (e.g., breast cancer, colorectal cancer) with common cancers in developing countries (e.g., gastric cancer, liver cancer). The situation of cancer prevention and control remains challenging.