OBJECTIVE： To understand the current situation and problems of the human resources of herbalists in Chongqing， and to provide reference for the relevant departments in formulating development plan for herbalists and promoting the healthy and sustainable development of Chinese medicine industry. METHODS： Chongqing municipal health and family planning commission issued the questionnaires to investigate the post distribution， educational background， job title and advanced study of medicine staff in Chongqing medical institutions. RESULTS： Questionnaires were gathered and reported by county health bureaus with effective recovery rate of 100％. There were totally 19 713 Chinese medicine practitioners in Chongqing， including 1 739 herbalists， accounting for 8.8％. Only 1.7％ of the herbalists were graduate degrees， and the proportion of highly educated herbalists was low. The primary professional position of the herbalists accounted only 59.5％ and senior professional position was only 4.7％， the professional titles of herbalists were generally on the low side. The proportion of further education for herbalists was only 3.2％. There were significant differences in the ages， working time， highest education， professional positions and post properties and further studies among different economic areas（P＜0.05）. Herbalists of one-hour economic circle had higher educational level and higher professional position than other two areas. CONCLUSIONS： Chongqing is lack of herbalists， and lack of the senior professional positions， their education level is low and further education rate is low. In order to promote the development of Chinese medicine， it is necessary to strengthen the training and introduction of outstanding and young talents， strengthen the continuing education and regular standardized training， improve the salary and welfare treatment for authorized strength and positions and balance the training for herbalists in different economic areas.