Objective To introduce and translate the Rapid Geriatric Assessment (RGA) and test its validity and reliability. Methods Translation and back-translation was conducted to develop the Chinese version of the RGA following the Brislin′s model of translation for cross-cultural research, then cultural adaption was performed using expert consultation and pilot survey. After that, 360 elderly individuals were selected from community healthcare centers through convenience sampling to test the reliability and validity of the tool. Results The item-level content validity index (CVI) ranged from 0.800 to 1.000 and the scale-level CVI was 0.988. Four factors were identified through exploratory factor analysis, accounting for 58.433% of the total variance. The Cronbach′s α coefficients of FRIAL for frailty assessment, SARC-F for sarcopenia assessment, SNAQ for nutrition assessment and RCS for cognition assessment were 0.511, 0.758, 0.809 and 0.663 respectively. The test-retest reliability of FRAIL, SARC-F, SNAQ, RCS were 0.850, 0.835, 0.802 and 0.848 respectively. Conclusion The Chinese version of the RGA is valid, reliable and concise for assessment of health status of the elderly in clinical practice.