Background Diabetes management could be improved by diabetes education, through influencing attitudes towards diabetes, knowledge and behaviors of patients. The purpose of this study was to characterize the impact of diabetes education on glycemic control, and to assess the attitude, knowledge and self-care behavior in patients with type 2 diabetes in China. Methods This questionnaire-based survey was conducted in 50 medical centers across China from April to July of 2010. The patients with type 2 diabetes were eligible for the study. The information of glycemic control and diabetes education was collected. The diabetes attitude scale-3 formulae, a questionnaire of diabetes knowledge and Summary of Diabetes Self-care Activities scale were used to assess attitude, knowledge and the self-care of patients, respectively. Results Among the 5961 eligible respondents (3233 males; mean age (59.50 +/- 12.48) years; mean hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) (8.27 +/- 2.23)%), most patients (79.8%) considered themselves educated on diabetes. Compared with patients without diabetes education, their educated counterparts showed significant lower value of HbA1c, after controlling for age, gender, body mass index and duration of diabetes (P <0.01). The patients who received diabetes education also performed significant higher scores on attitude, knowledge and self-care than their uneducated counterparts. Patients with lower income or education level tended to have higher glucose levels, and showed lower percentage of patients received diabetic education. Conclusions Chinese patients with diabetes education achieved better glycemic control than un-educated patients. Our study indicates effort is required to provide professional education to patients, with emphasis on lower income and lower education level populations. Chin Med J 2012;125(23):4175-4180