Abstract:Since 1990s global tuberculosis epidemic has risen, and the appearance of drug-resistant tuberculosis was one of the important reasons. First it was seen the worldwide appearance of multidrug-resistant (MDR) tuberculosis, then followed by extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis. MDR tuberculosis is caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis that is resistant at least to isoniazid and rifampicin. XDR tuberculosis is defined as disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis with resistance to at least isoniazid and rifampicin, any kinds of fluoroquinolone, and at least one of three injectable second-line drugs (amikacin, capreomycin, or kanamycin). This disease needs at least 4 to 5 drugs to treatment 18-24 months at minimum. Till now the gold standard for drug-susceptibility testing has been the agar proportion method, which needs 4-6 weeks for results to be determined. Other diagnosis technologies still have their disadvantages. The treatment for XDR tuberculosis has not been confirmly established. Some studies have found that XDR tuberculosis is 5.45-fold greater mortality risk than MDR tuberculosis. As one of the highest tuberculosis burden countries in the world, China is threatened by XDR tuberculosis. There is more work to do for this disease.