【Objective】To explore the relationship between peripheral arterial disease（PAD）and diabetic retinopathy（DR）in type 2 diabetes patients.【Methods】A total of 99 patients diagnosed with PAD were classified into grade 1 - 3 by their total scores of peripheral arterial stenosis assessed by color doppler ultrasound examinations，where the degree of stenosis 30% ~ 49% scored 0， 50% ~ 99% scored 1，lumen occlusion（i.e. degree of stenosis 100%）scored 2，and therefore the total score 0 - 2 was categorized into Grade 1，3 ~ 4 into Grade 2，5 ~ 12 into Grade 3. The bilateral anterior tibial artery，posterior tibial artery and dorsalis pedis artery of these patients were analyzed. The presence of diabetic retinopathy（DR）was graded from retinal photographs using a standard protocol.【Results】Among 99 cases of type 2 diabetic patients with peripheral arterial disease，58.6% of them were male with average age of 67.3 ± 7.9 years old. Patients of Grade 1，Grade2，Grade 3 lesion accounted for 45.4%，30.3%，24.2%，respectively. Age， gender，smoking history，SBP，DBP，BMI，FBG，TC，TG，LDL-C，HDL-C，HbA1C among 3 groups were not statistically signifi? cant. The associations of DM duration and HbA1C value were significantly larger in DR than in PAD. The proportion of DR patients increased with the severity degree of PAD（p for trend=0.004）. Degree of stenosis Grade 2 and Grade 3 could be predictive for DR. 【Conclusions】DR is associated with the severity degree of PAD in type 2 diabetes patients as evaluated by duplex ultrasonography.Degree of stenosis Grade 2 and 3 could be used for screening or finding DR. Strategies for optimum treatment and early prevention are needed.