This study examines the relationship between the ownership structure and the debt ratio of Chinese listed firms.We select the Chinese firms listed on Shanghai and Shenzhen exchanges ranging from 2001 to 2009 as the sample and proceed with the analysis based on the institutional ownership, the proportion of outside directors, board size, insider ownership and the debt ratio.We find that the ownership of domestic institutions has significantly negative relationship with long-term debt ratio; the proportion of outside directors is significantly and positively associated with long-term debt ratio; as for the insider ownership, it has significantly negative relationship with long-term debt ratio as well.