Objective To determine whether smoking increases the risk for developing metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Chinese men.Methods A total of 693 men with no MetS at baseline were followed for 2.9-5.5 years.Subjects were divided into nonsmokers,ex-smokers,and current smokers according to baseline smoking status.Results After adjusting for age,education level,alcohol intake,fasting plasma insulin,HOMA-IR index,and BMI at baseline and weight change,current smokers were dose-dependently associated with increased risk for developing new MetS compared with nonsmokers.The odds ratio (OR) was 2.131 (95％ CI,1.264,3.592; P＜0.01) for the NCEPIII definition or 3.083 (95％ CI,1.807,5.295; P＜0.01) for the JCDCG definition of MetS.Ex-smokers who had quit for ≥13 years significantly decreased the risk for developing new MetS defined by the JCDCG definition.Compared with nonsmokers,current smokers were significantly associated with increased incidence of hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL-C.Conclusion Smoking is a risk factor for developing MetS in Chinese men after adjusting for age,education level,alcohol intake,fasting plasma insulin,HOMA-IR,BMI,and weight change.This could be due to an increased incidence of dyslipidemia.Smoking cessation for ＞13 years decreased the risk for developing MetS defined by the JCDCG definition.