BackgroundGastric cancer is a common cancer in China. This project investigated the disease burden of gastric cancer from 1990 to 2019 in China and globally.MethodsThe global age‐standardized rates (ASRs) were extracted from the Global Burden of Disease. Moreover, the estimated annual percentage changes (eAPCs) in the ASRs of incidence (ASIR), mortality (ASMR), and disability‐adjusted life‐years (DALYs) were calculated to determine the trends by countries and regions.ResultsIn China, the ASIR declined from 37.56 to 30.64 per 100,000 and the ASMR declined from 37.73 to 21.72 per 100,000. The global ASIR decreased from 22.44 to 15.59 and the ASMR declined from 20.48 to 11.88 per 100,000 persons from 1990 to 2019. The ASIR was the lowest in Malawi (3.28 per 100,000) and the highest in Mongolia (43.7 per 100,000), whereas the ASMR was the lowest in the United States of America (3.40 per 100,000) and the highest in Mongolia (40.04 per 100,000) in 2019. The incidence of early‐onset gastric cancer increased in China. The DALYs attributed to gastric cancer presented a slight decrease during the period. China had a higher mortality/incidence ratio (0.845) and 5‐year prevalence (27.6/100,000) than most developed countries.ConclusionChina presented a steady decline in the incidence and mortality rates for gastric cancer. The global ASIR, ASMR, and DALYs showed a slight rise decrease. Different patterns of gastric cancer rates and temporal trends have been identified in different geographical regions, indicating that specific strategies are needed to prevent the increase in some countries.