To date, only three polymorphisms (rs10830962, rs7754840 and rs1470579) are included in the genome-wide association study Catalog ( www.ebi.ac.uk/gwas ). However, the available evidence is limited in pregnant Chinese women. We aimed to explore the associations of three polymorphisms (rs10830962, rs7754840 and rs1470579) with GDM risk in a Chinese population. We conducted a case-control study (964 GDM cases and 1,021 controls) to evaluate the associations of these polymorphisms with GDM risk. A logistic regression model was used to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and their confidence intervals (CIs). After adjustment for age, prepregnancy BMI, parity, abnormal pregnancy history and family history of diabetes, the minor allele of rs10830962 (C > G) demonstrated a significant association with an increased risk of GDM (OR = 1.16, 95% CI = 1.02-1.31, P = 0.029 in the additive model). However, no significant association was observed between the other two polymorphisms and GDM. Subsequent functional annotation shows that rs10830962 is located in the regulatory elements of pancreatic islets, alters the binding affinity of motifs and regulates SNORA8 expression. Our findings demonstrate that rs10830962 is associated with an increased risk of GDM in the Chinese population. Further functional characterization is warranted to uncover the mechanism of the genotype-phenotype association.