Objective To evaluate the depression detection rate of left-behind children in China. Method CNKI,Wanfang Data,VIP information,PubMed,Science Direct and Web of Science were searched to collect articles published concerning the depression detection rate among left-behind children in China.Meta analysis was performed after extracting data of included literatures. Results 11 literatures were included.The overall depression detection rate was 30.9% (95%CI:21.6%~40.2%),male and female detection rates were 28.9% and 27.6%.The combined detection rates for literatures with large sample size(≥585) and literatures with small sample size(<585) were 29.4% and 32.2%;The combined detection rates for Center for Epidemiologic Studies Dression Scale for Children (CES-DC),Depression Self-rating Scale for Children (DSRSC) and Children's Depression Inventory (CDI) were 46.2%,37.4% and 15.5%;The combined detection rates for low quality literatures and high quality literatures were 34.3% and 28%;The combined detection rates for literatures with non random sampling method was 33.5%,and 30% for literatures with random sampling method. Conclusion The depression detection rate of Chinese left-behind children is higher than both domestic and foreign non left-behind children.Different scales have a significant impact on the detection rate.