Objective To translate the Social Frailty Index (SFI) scale, and to test its reliability and validity, so as to provide an effective tool for screening social frailty of the elderly in China. Methods A Chinese version of the SFI scale was formed after literal translation, back translation, cross-cultural debugging and pre-testing in accordance with the cross-cultural debugging guide, which was then used to investigate 349 community-dwelling older adults to analyze its reliability and validity. Results The content validity index at the item level was 0.880-1.000, and it was 0.908 at the scale level. Two common factors were extracted from the exploratory factor analysis, and the cumulative variance contribution rate was 70.875%. Confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated that, χ2/df=1.870, Comparative Fit Index (CFI)=0.992, Tucker-Lewis Index (TLI)=0.984, Adjusted Goodness-of-fit Index (AGFI)=0.957, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation (RMSEA)=0.050. The overall cronbach′s α coefficient of the scale was 0.820, the split-half reliability of the scale was 0.719, and its retest reliability was 0.958. Conclusion The Chinese version of the SFI scale has good reliability and validity, and it is suitable for screening social frailty of the elderly in China.