AIM: To evaluate the risk factors associated with retinal neovascularization of diabetic retinopathy in northern Chinese Han patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). METHODS: The clinical characteristics of 200 patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) and 100 age-matched healthy individuals were compared. The univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis were performed in the patients with PDR. RESULTS: Fasting blood glucose (FBG), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (TC), blood urea nitrogen (BUN), uric acid (UA), white blood cell count (WBC), absolute neutrophil count, hematocrit (HCT) and mean platelet volume (MPV) and mean platelet volume (MPV) were all significantly higher in patients with PDR than in the control group (P<0.05). The univariate and multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that risk factors independently associated with retinal neovascularization of DR were duration of diabetes mellitus (OR=1.112; P =0.000), BUN (OR=1.277; P=0.000), smoking (OR=3.967; P=0.000) and MPV(OR=2.472; P=0.000). On the other hand, panretinal photocoagulation was associated with reduced risk of retinal neovascularization (OR=0.983; P=0.000). CONCLUSION: Preventing and controlling T2DM in terms of risk factors, including duration of diabetes, BUN, smoking and MPV, might offer novel approaches to prevent or delay the onset of retinal neovascularization in patients with PDR.