A systematic review of the Chinese literature was conducted from 1956 to 2005. The survey included both online and manual searching, as well as expert discussions aimed at providing insight into factors affecting benzene exposure levels in paint/coatings industries. Data extracted from 204 papers included: (1) year of occurrence, (2) type of paint/coatings products, (3) type of industries where the products were used or produced, (4) job titles and work activities, (5) type of literature searched, (6) working conditions whenever data were available, and (7) exposure levels. Most benzene measurements were short-term samples for comparison with the Chinese maximum allowable concentration standard. The accuracy and precision of the sampling and analytical methods were not reported. The distribution of benzene concentrations was tested and found to fit neither normal nor lognormal distributions. Analysis of variance (comparison for more than two groups) and t-test (comparison for two groups) were conducted on Blom-transformed benzene concentration data. The overall median benzene exposure levels were 215, 82, 31, and 6 mg/m(3) during the periods 1956-1978, 1979-1989, 1990-2001, and 2002-2005, respectively. Mean benzene exposure was significantly lower for paint manufacturing than paint spraying. No significant difference was found among paint types and benzene exposure for paint application. Benzene exposure was significantly higher in workplaces judged to have poor ventilation. No significant differences were found in benzene exposure as a function of industry type. Even though substantially lower when compared with levels in the past, recent benzene exposure measurements suggested that many facilities in the paint/coatings industries in China still have benzene concentrations that are above the current China occupational exposure limit for benzene (6 mg/m(3) as a time-weighted average). Benzene concentrations from the present exercise, while not directly supporting quantitative retrospective exposure estimating, provide insight on relative benzene exposure for painting tasks in the reported industries over time.