Objective To investigate the situation ,influencing factors and demands of hospital health professional personnel′s participation in continuing medical education (CME) in Nanning city and provide a scientific basis for further development of CME . Methods A total of 936 health professional personnel from 18 hospitals were selected .Self designed questionnaires were adopted to investigate the situation ,influencing factors and demands of hospital health professional personnel′s participation in CME .Results Among all the health professional personnel ,14 .85% had not taken part in CME in 2011 .The content of CME activities was still carried out with the basic theory and basic skills mainly .The form of CME activities was still face‐to‐face teaching mainly ,and the utilization rate of resources in distance medical education was lower .Furthermore ,the fees of CME activities were still mostly self‐supported .Time (30 .04% ) and fees (21 .33% ) were the leading factors influencing the participation of CME activities .Clinical set‐ting and education level were significantly related to the participation rate of CME (P<0 .05) .The percent of choosing face to face teachingas CME form was 35 .22% .The percent of choosing acquire new knowledge and skillsas CME content was 36 .60% . Health professional personnel considered the ratio of the fees of CME activities paid by individual should be without payments (52 .78% ) ,or below 20 .00% (40 .06% ) .Conclusion Governments and CM E administrators at all levels should take individual characters of health professional personnel into consideration and various measures should been adopted to assure the sustained and healthy development of CM E .