Based on a large amount of data obtained from the National Groundwater Contamination Investigation Project, the groundwater quality in North China plain, Huaihe River basin, the Yangtze River delta and the Pearl River delta in the eastern China was assessed with the single factor method, and the status of groundwater quality was assessed with detection limit and over-standard rate methods. The results show that the proportion of groundwater suitable for drinking directly (Ⅰ-Ⅲ level) or after proper treatment (Ⅳ level) is 47.9%, and the proportion not suitable for drinking directly (Ⅴ level) is 52.1%.The quality of shallow groundwater is slightly worse than that of the deep groundwater.