Foodborne disease is one of the major global public health concerns. It has also become the largest food safety issue in China. Estimating the frequency of acute gastrointestinal illness in the population is a central issue in evaluating the burden of foodborne diseases. Several countries have conducted studies to estimate the burden of acute gastrointestinal illness and foodborne disease, and China conducted a pilot study designed to estimate the burden of disease during 2010and 2011. In this review, domestic and foreign researches on estimation of the burden of acute gastrointestinal illness and foodborne disease were outlined.