Objective To translate and test the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of the Cardiac Rehabilitation Inventory（CRI）. Methods The CRI was translated and adapted according to Chinese culture following the translation and back-retranslation procedure. The reliability and validity of the Chinese version of CRI was tested among 220 cardiovascular disease patients conveniently sampled in a tertiary hospital in Zhengzhou. Results The Scale-Content Validity Index （S-CVI） was 0.96,and the Item-Content Validity Index （I-CVI） ranged from 0.83 to 1.00. Exploratory factor analysis extracted three factors,which could explain 56.415% of the total variance. The Cronbach's α for the total scale was 0.816,and the Cronbach's α for three dimensions ranged from 0.765 to 0.862. The test-retest reliability coefficient was 0.838,and the split-half reliability was 0.805. Conclusion The Chinese version of CRI has acceptable reliability and validity. It can effectively assess the individualized cardiac rehabilitation needs of patients with cardiovascular diseases.