Abstract Background Heavy menstrual bleeding (HMB) has been shown to have a profound negative impact on women’s quality of life and lead to increases in health care costs; however, data on HMB among Chinese population is still rather limited. The present study therefore aimed to determine the current prevalence and risk factors of subjectively experienced HMB in a community sample of Chinese reproductive-age women, and to evaluate its effect on daily life. Methods We conducted a questionnaire survey in 2356 women aged 18–50 years living in Beijing, China, from October 2014–July 2015. A multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors for HMB. Results Overall, 429 women experienced HMB, giving a prevalence of 18.2%. Risk factors associated with HMB included uterine fibroids (adjusted odds ratio [OR] =2.12, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.42–3.16, P