China is one of the countries that employs high-frequency over-the-horizon radars for both military and civil applications. The first Chinese high-frequency over-the-horizon backscatter radar was developed in the 1970s. This paper briefly introduces the first Chinese over-the-horizon backscatter radar system and reviews ionospheric backscatter and propagation studies in China. The paper discusses the motivation for establishing over-the-horizon radar systems in China, the experimental system, target recognition and detection, and estimation of over-the-horizon radar availability. Observations of aircraft, large-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances, and the effects of a remote nuclear explosion are also presented. Finally, the real-time Chinese ionosonde network and frequency predictions using backscatter ionograms are discussed. ¿ 1998 American Geophysical Union