This article examines citizens’ confidence in the Chinese criminal justice system, with data from the surveys collected in three provincial capitals with a random sampling strategy in 2007 and 2008. Multivariate analyses are conducted, and follow-up questions are explored with a comparative approach to assess the differences between public perceptions and the views of criminal justice officials within the current social context. The sample sizes for citizens and officials were 217 and 90, respectively. Findings show that the majority of citizens and officials believed that there was a lack of confidence in the Chinese criminal justice system, as demonstrated in the recent ‘anger-venting’ events. This finding is inconsistent with the limited empirical literature on public attitudes in China. The important factors such as perceptions of fairness, corruption and extortion of confessions are explored, and policy implications are discussed.