Objective To understand the antimicrobial resistance of foodborne Salmonella isolates in China in 2016. Methods Broth microdilution method were used for the antimicrobial susceptibility of 775 Salmonella isolates against 16 antimicrobial compounds which belongs to 10 categories, and real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction method was used to detect the existence of mcr-1 gene. Results About 72.7% (549/775) isolates showed different antimicrobial resistant levels to 16 antimicrobials tested, and the resistance rates to nalidixic acid(NAL), tetracycline(TET), ampicillin(AMP)and ampicillin-sulbactam(SAM)were as high as above 34% while all strains were susceptible to imipenem (IPM) and meropenem (MEM). About 44.4% (335/775) were identified as multi-drug resistant (MDR) strains, among which resistance to as much as eight classes of antimicrobials was unfolded. There were 134 antimicrobial resistance spectrums with NAL, TET and AMP-SAM-NAL as the top three spectrums. Two isolates were identified carrying mcr-1 gene, one was Salmonella Derby serotype with resistance to 8 classes of drugs at the same time, while another one was Salmonella Typhimurium serotype with co-resistance to 7 kinds of drugs. Serious multi-drug resistance was found in some provinces. Conclusion An overall high level antimicrobial resistance was found among foodborne Salmonella isolates in 2016, so was the MDR condition, especially for strains recovered from some provinces. Mcr-1 gene could be carried in foodborne Salmonella isolates, therefore, close attention should be paid to its surveillance and further research on the antimicrobial resistance and transportation.