The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between the altered ideal cardiovascular health status (ΔCHS) and the risk of developing diabetes mellitus in the Kailuan population of China.We included 50,656 Chinese adults aged 18 years or older (11,704 men and 38,952 women) without baseline diabetes mellitus in this study. Information about 7 individual components of the cardiovascular health metrics during 2006 to 2008 was collected. A ΔCHS score was defined as the changes of ideal cardiovascular health status (CHS) from the year 2006 to 2008. New-onset diabetes was identified based on the history of diabetes, currently treated with insulin or oral hypoglycemic agents, or having a fasting blood glucose concentration ≥7.0 mmol/L during the 2010 to 2011 and 2012 to 2013 surveys. After a mean follow-up period of 3.80 years, a total of 3071 (6.06%) participants developed diabetes mellitus. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to calculate the hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the CHS change and new-onset diabetes.A strong inverse association between the positive CHS changes and lower risks of developing diabetes mellitus was observed. After adjusting for age, sex, alcohol consumption, and other potential confounders, the hazard ratios for new-onset diabetes were 0.73, 0.59, 0.49, and 0.42 (95% confidence interval: 0.37-0.82; P trend <0.001) for those who met ΔCHS = -1, 0, 1, and ≥2, respectively, compared with the participants with ΔCHS ≤-2.The study concluded that the improved CHS was associated with the reduced risk of developing diabetes mellitus in this investigated Chinese population.