Objective To study the expression level and function of micro RNA (microRNA)-218 in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) .Methods 46 cases of HCC surgery in the hepatobiliary surgery department of this hospital were selected and divided into the transfection group and nontransfection group .The expression ,proliferation and apoptosis of microRNA-218 and the expression level of B cell specific Maloney leukemia virus insertion site 1(Bmi-1) and cycling-dependented kinase 6(CDK6) in HepG2 cells were compared between the two groups .Results The expression level of microRNA-218 in HCC tissue was significantly lower than that in paracancerous tissues (P＜0 .05);the microRNA218 expression level was closely correlated with the clinicopathological characteristics such as tumor size and TNM stage(P＜0 .05);the HepG2 cell proliferation rates at 24 ,48 ,72 h after transfection in the transfection group were significantly lower than those in the nontransfection group(P＜0 .05);the HepG2 cell apoptosis rate in the transfection group was significantly higher than that in the nontransfection group(P＜0 .05);the Bim-1 and CDK6 expression levels after HepG2 cell transfection in the transfection group were significantly lower than those in nontransfection group(P＜0 .05) . Conclusion microRNA-218 can suppress the proliferation of HCC cells and promotes HCC cells apoptosis by down-regulating the Bim-1 and CDK6 expression level in potential targets .