Background: Center for Epidemiological Studies Depresssion-20 (CESD-20) has been one ofthe most widely used scales to assess depressive symptoms. In recent years, to reduce participant burden in large cohort and epidemiological studies, cohort studies in both the West and China have used the CESD-8. However, while CESD-8 has been validated against CESD-20 in the West with the optimal cutoff score identified, there is currently no consensus on the optimal cutoff score for CESD-8-Chinese.Methods: The present study tested different CESD-8 cutoff scores (from 6 to 12) against CESD- 20 cutoff scores in the general Chinese population (N = 10,661; aged between 18 to 64 years old) and among the Chinese elderly (N = 3118; aged >= 65).Results: When a cutoff score of 16 is used for CESD-20, the corresponding optimal cutoff score for CESD-8 is 7. When a cutoff of 20 is used for CESD-20, the optimal cutoff for CESD-8 is 8. The same results were obtained from our analysis examining participants aged >= 65 years old. Conclusion: When tested against CESD-20, the CESD-8 appears to be a reliable and valid abbreviated scale, both in the general Chinese population and among older Chinese adults. A score of 7 or 8 could be used to detect clinically significant depressive symptoms, depending on what cutoff score researchers deem appropriate for CESD-20 (i.e., 16 vs. 20).