Although early detection of autism facilitates intervention, early detection strategies are not yet widespread in China. To improve the situation, the Chinese version of the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers, Revised with Follow-Up (M-CHAT-R/F) was validated. The sample included 7928 toddlers, aged 16 to 30 months, screened during their routine care in six provinces of China. When the cut-off value was 3, the sensitivity and specificity of M-CHAT-R were 0.963 and 0.865. The inter-rater reliability and the test--retest reliability were also adequate (intraclass correlation coefficients were 0.853 and 0.759, both ps < 0.01). The Chinese version of M-CHAT-R/F is an effective tool for early detection of ASD and is applicable to early screening in China.