This study aimed to investigate prospective memory (PM) and the association with clinical factors at 1-year follow-up in first-episode schizophrenia (FES). Thirty-two FES patients recruited from a university-affiliated psychiatric hospital in Beijing and 17 healthy community controls (HCs) were included. Time-and event-based PM (TBPM and EBPM) performances were measured with the Chinese version of the Cambridge Prospective Memory Test (CCAMPROMPT) at baseline and at one-year follow-up. A number of other neurocognitive tests were also administered. Remission was determined at the endpoint according to the PANSS score <= 3 for selected items. Repeated measures analysis of variance revealed a significant interaction between time (baseline vs. endpoint) and group (FES vs. HCs) for EBPM (F-(1,F- (44)) = 8.8, p = 0.005) and for all neurocognitive components. Paired samples t-tests showed significant improvement in EBPM in FES (13.1 +/- 3.7 vs. 10.3 +/- 4.8; t = 3.065, p = 0.004), compared to HCs (15.7 +/- 3.6 vs. 16.5 +/- 2.3; t = -1.248, p = 0.230). A remission rate of 59.4% was found in the FES group. Analysis of covariance revealed that remitters performed significantly better on EBPM (14.9 +/- 2.6 vs. 10.4 +/- 3.6; F-(1,F- 25) = 12.2, p = 0.002) than non-remitters at study endpoint. The association between EBPM and 12-month clinical improvement in FES suggests that EBPM may be a potential neurocognitive marker for the effectiveness of standard pharmacotherapy. Furthermore, the findings also imply that PM may not be strictly a trait-related endophenotype as indicated in previous studies.