Objective To study the association between high fat-low carbohydrate diet score and newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes in Chinese population. Methods Data about 20 717 subjects aged 45-59 years from the cross-sectional 2002 China National Nutrition and Health Survey were analyzed. High fat-low carbohydrate diet was scored according to the energy of carbohydrate, fat, and protein. Results Of the 20 717 subjects, 1 332 were diagnosed with hyperglycemia and 662 were newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Multivariate adjusted analysis showed that the highest score of type 2 diabetes patients was 2.75 (95% CI: 2.09-3.61). The score of type 2 diabetes patients was 1.87 (95% CI: 1.35-2.58) after further adjustment for their socioeconomic status and physical activity. No significant difference was found in the odds ratio after further adjustment for BMI, blood pressure, lipid level, and energy intake. No evidence was observed for the relation between high fat-low carbohydrate-diet score in type 2 diabetes patients due to high family income, less education, physical activity, overweight, hypertension, high TG, or low HDL level. Conclusion High fat-low carbohydrate diets, far different from traditional Chinese diets, are associated with the high incidence of type 2 diabetes in Chinese population. Objective To study the association between high fat-low carbohydrate diet score and newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes in Chinese population. Methods Data about 20 717 subjects aged 45-59 years from the cross-sectional 2002 China National Nutrition and Health Survey were. fat-low carbohydrate diet was scored according to the energy of carbohydrate, fat, and protein. Results Of the 20 717 subjects, 1 332 were diagnosed with hyperglycemia and 662 were newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Multivariate adjusted analysis showed that the highest score of type 2 diabetes patients was 2.75 (95% CI: 2.09-3.61). The score of type 2 diabetes patients was 1.87 (95% CI: 1.35-2.58) after further adjustment for their socioeconomic status and physical activity. No significant difference was found in the odds ratio after further adjustment for BMI, blood pressure, lipid level, and energy intake. No evidence was observed for the relation between high fat-low carbohydrate-diet score in type 2 diabetes patients due to high family income, less education, physical activity, overweight, hypertension, high TG, or low HDL level. Conclusion High fat-low carbohydrate diets, far different from traditional Chinese diets, are associated with the high incidence of type 2 diabetes in Chinese population.