Hepatitis B e antigen (HBeAg)-positive chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection undergoes two phases in sequence, termed non-aggressive hepatitis (NAH) and aggressive hepatitis (AH), respectively. But there is still a lack of perfect standard for defining HBeAg-positive NAH and AH. In this study, based on a long-term follow-up cohort of 179 patients, the functional cutoffs for alanine transaminase (ALT), hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and HBV DNA in identifying HBeAg-positive NAH were designated using Kaplan-Meier survival analysis with spontaneous HBeAg seroconversion as the endpoint event; On this basis, the performance of ALT in tandem with HBsAg and in tandem with HBV DNA in identifying HBeAg-positive NAH was evaluated. The results showed that, ALT≤60 IU/L, HBsAg >4.602 log10 IU/mL and HBV DNA >7.477 log10 IU/mL were the functional cutoffs in identifying HBeAg-positive NAH. Based on the functional cutoffs, among patients with ALT in tandem with HBsAg, the proportion of patients with pathological grade≤G1 and “grade≤G1 and stage≤S2” were both 100%, and with pathological stage≤S1 and “grade≤G2 and stage≤S1” were both 68.2%; among patients with ALT in tandem with HBV DNA, the proportion of patients with pathological grade≤G1 and “grade≤G1 and stage≤S2” were both 86.2%, and with pathological stage≤S1 and “grade≤G2 and stage≤S1” were both 69.0%; the positive likelihood ratios of ALT in tandem with HBsAg in identifying pathological grade≤G1 and “grade≤G1 and stage≤S2” were both ＋∞， and in identifying pathological stage≤S1 and “grade≤G2 and stage≤S1” were both 2.034; the positive likelihood ratios of ALT in tandem with HBV DNA in identifying pathological grade≤G1 and “grade≤G1 and stage≤S2” were 3.000 and 3.068, respectively, and in identifying pathological stage≤S1 and “grade≤G2 and stage≤S1” were both 2.106. The results suggested that, both ALT in tandem with HBsAg and in tandem with HBV DNA can effectively identify HBeAg-positive NAH. The performance of ALT in tandem with HBsAg in identifying HBeAg-positive NAH is better than that of ALT in tandem with HBV DNA.