Objective：To explore the clinical characteristics and risk factors for death of COVID-19 patients with diabetes mellitus. Methods：The study included in 68 patients with COVID-19 and diabetes who were confirmed to be hospitalized in Wuhan Central Hospital on December 30，2019 to March 1，2020. In addition，126 COVID-19 patients without diabetes who were hospitalized at the same time were included in the study. General data and laboratory indicators were collected. End point events were defined as：by March 20，2020，the patient died during hospitalization or was cured and discharged from the hospital. Results：①In the control group，age，critical illness ratio，ratio of other complications，treatment time，heart rate，and proportion of double lung involvement and con－current other microbial infections were less than those in the diabetes group，with statistically significant differences（P<0.05）. ② Blood glucose，white blood cell count，platelet count，d-dimer and aspartate aminotransferase（AST） in the control group were lower than those in the diabetes group，with statistically significant differences（P<0.05）. ③There were statistically significant differences between the control group and the diabetes group in the treatment of systemic glucocorticoid，the treatment of pedestrian immunoglobulin，the treatment of thymosin and the outcome of the disease（P<0.05）. ④Age（OR=3.241，95%CI=2.056-6.342，P=0.017），albumin（OR=11.991，95%CI=6.863-16.556，P=0.046），and glycosylated hemoglobin（OR=2.086，95%CI=1.106-27.233，P=0.007） were independent risk factors for death in COVID-19 patients with diabetes. Conclusion：COVID-19 patients with diabetes are often elderly，in a critical condition，with long treatment time and severe involvement in both lungs. In addition，the elderly with low albumin and high glycosylated hemoglobin are prone to death of COVID-19 patients with diabetes.