The present study aimed to explore the biological functions and molecular mechanisms of the long non-coding rna ViM antisense rna 1 (ViM-aS1) in gastric cancer (Gc). The expression of ViM-aS1 was analyzed in tissues from patients with Gc and Gc cell lines by reverse transcription-quantitative (rT-q)Pcr. The relationship between ViM-aS1 expression and overall survival time of patients with Gc was also assessed. To determine the biological functions of ViM-aS1, cell counting Kit-8 assay, colony formation assay, flow cytometry, wound healing assay and Transwell assay were employed. The targeting relationship among ViM-aS1, microRNA (miR)-8052 and frizzled 1 (FZD1) was verified by the dual luciferase reporter gene assay. The underlying molecular mechanism of ViM-aS1 on Gc was determined by rT-qPcr and western blotting. in addition, tumor formation was detected in nude mice. The results of the present study demonstrated that ViM-aS1 was highly expressed in Gc tissues and cells. in addition, ViM-aS1 expression was demonstrated to be closely related to the prognosis of patients with Gc. notably, silencing ViM-aS1 inhibited the proliferation, migration and invasion, and enhanced apoptosis of aGS and HGC-27 cells. Silencing VIM-AS1 significantly increased the protein expression levels of cleaved caspase-3, Bax and e-cadherin, but decreased the protein expression levels of Bcl-2, n-cadherin, vimentin, matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-9, β-catenin, cyclin d1, c-myc and FZd1. additionally, silencing ViM-aS1 inhibited tumor growth in nude mice. cumulatively, the present study demonstrated that ViM-aS1 may promote cell proliferation, migration, invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition by regulating FdZ1 and activating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway in Gc.