OBJECTIVE: To understand the capability of parasitic disease diagnosis among professionals from the clinic laboratory of Class A tertiary hospitals in Jiangxi Province. METHODS: The teams that took part in the competition were formed from 20 Class A tertiary hospitals, with 2 contestants per team. The competition contents included written examination and skill operation. The written examination involved the life cycle of parasites, immunological basis, detecting techniques, etiological diagnosis etc., and the skill operation involved making and dying thin and thick blood smears, making Kato-Katz's fecal thick smears, as well as microscopic examinations of smears. RESULTS: A total of 40 participants took part in the competition. Their total average score was 97.3±22.4 with the pass rate of 15.0%, in which the mean score of theoretical knowledge was 56.6±12.8 with the pass rate of 52.5%, and the mean score of skill operation was 40.8±12.4 with the pass rate of 5.0%. In the written examination, the scoring rate of the life cycle of soil-transmitted helminths was the highest (90.0%), and the rate of the basic knowledge of food-borne parasites was the lowest (31.5%). Both the pass rates of blood smear making and examination were higher than those of Kato-Katz's thick smears, and the differences were statistically significant (both P < 0.05). The detection rates of Plasmodium vivax, Plasmodium falciparum, Plasmodium ovale and negative slides of the contestants were 38.8%, 45.0%, 35.0% and 25.0% respectively. As to the microscopic examination of helminth eggs, the detection rate of Trichuris trichiura egg was the highest (87.5%), and the rate of the Sparganum mansoni egg was the lowest (2.5%). The scores of Kato-Katz's thick smear making and examination of the contestants from the provincial level hospitals were higher than those from the city level hospitals (both P < 0.05), and the score of those from teaching hospitals in Kato-Katz's thick smear making was higher than that of those from non-teaching hospitals (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The technique level of professionals from the clinic laboratory of the Class A tertiary hospitals cannot meet the needs of the diagnosis of parasitic diseases in Jiangxi Province, which should arouse the attention of the health authorities and hospitals.