BackgroundDirofilariasis, the disease caused byDirofilariaspp., and in particular byDirofilaria immitisandDirofilaria repensin canines, occurs frequently in canids and felids, and occasionally in humans, in temperate, sub-tropical and tropical regions globally. Although highly effective, safe and convenient preventive medicines have been available for the treatment of dirofilariasis for the past three decades, the disease remains a major veterinary and public health concern in endemic areas. The insect vectors, host-parasite relationships and interactions ofDirofilariaspp. have received little attention in China, and there is very little information in English regarding the prevalence of dirofilariasis in animals and humans in the country. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to evaluate the status of canine dirofilariasis in China based on the available literature in English and in Chinese.MethodsWe systematically searched five databases for epidemiologic studies on the prevalence of canine dirofilariasis in China and finally selected 42 studies eligible for inclusion in the systematic review and meta-analysis. The meta-analysis was performed using the random effects model in the meta package in R v4.2.1.ResultsThe random effects model gave a pooled and weighted prevalence ofDirofilariainfection among dogs in China in the past 100 years of 13.8% (2896/51,313, 95% confidence interval 8.2–20.4%) with a high level of heterogeneity (I2=  99.5%).ConclusionsOur analyses indicated that the prevalence of canine dirofilariasis in China has gradually declined, but that the range ofDirofilariaspp. has expanded. Older and outdoor dogs presented a higher rate of positive infection. The findings indicated that more attention should be paid to host factors for the effective control and management of this disease.Graphical AbstractSupplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-023-05770-9.