The aim of the study was to determine human papillomavirus (HPV) type-distribution in the cervix of Chinese women, and to estimate the potential future impact of HPV prophylactic vaccines for cervical cancer prevention in China. A total of 32 studies using polymerase chain reaction for HPV detection were included in the meta-analysis, including 2844 invasive cervical cancer (ICC), 820 high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (HSIL), 432 low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesions (LSIL) and 2902 women with normal cytology/histology. The overall and type-specific HPV prevalence of 18 HPV types (HPV 6, 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59, 66, 68, 70, 73 and 82 of different cervical stages) were estimated. Overall HPV prevalence was 83.7%, 66.2%, 61.3% and 11.2% in ICC, HSIL, LSIL and normal, respectively. HPV 16 was the predominant type in all cervical stages. Estimated HPV 16/18 positive fractions in ICC, HSIL, LSIL and normal were 69.7%, 45.5%, 32.23% and 4.6%, respectively. HPV-16/18 vaccine has the 69.7% potential prevention in ICC. HPV 58 and 52 were the priority HPV types in Chinese women.