Involuntary admissions (IA) continue to be a controversial topic in psychiatry. There have been very few studies investigating the pattern of IA and contributing factors in Chinese psychiatric patients. This study examined the prevalence of IA and its relationships with demographic and clinical characteristics in a large psychiatric institution in Hunan province, China. A consecutively collected sample of 161 psychiatric inpatients was collected. The patients' basic socio-demographic and clinical data including admission types were collected. The frequency of IA was 53.1% in the whole sample. In multiple logistic regression analysis, IA was independently associated with female sex, more recent aggression prior to admission and poorer social function and insight into illness. IA was common in clinical practice in China, and its demographic and clinical correlates are similar to the findings reported from western settings. © 2014 Elsevier Inc.