The aim of the present study was to investigate the distribution of HPV genotypes in uterine cervical lesions in Yanbian, northern China. HPV-DNA chip (oligonucleotide microarray) and cervical biopsy were used for 322 women in 1998-2005. All the normal cervical epithelia were negative for HPV. The positive rate of high-risk HPV was 33.9% in cervical intra-epithelial neoplasia (CIN)-1, 51.6% in CIN-2, 57.7% in CIN-3, 66.7% in cervical glandular intra-epithelial neoplasia (CGIN), 91.7% in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC), and 78.6% in adenocarcinoma. HPV-16 was the major type in all CIN and SCC cervical lesions, but in cervical adenocarcinoma HPV-18 was the most common type, and HPV-16 was the second most common type. Several cases of CIN-3, SCC and adenocarcinoma had multiple types of HPV, but there was none in CIN-1/2. In summary, HPV-16 is the type most frequently involved in the development of SCC of the cervix, and this may be helpful for the prediction of the development and progress of CIN-2/3, whereas both HPV-18 and -16 play a prominent role in the development of adenocarcinoma and CGIN of the cervix in Yanbian, northern China.