BACKGROUND: The population of left-behind children is growing rapidly in China in recent years. Without parents' company, left-behind children may develop severe emotional problems, which can trigger extreme behaviours such as self-harm and suicide. Previous literature suggests that mindfulness-based intervention could effectively alleviate a variety of sufferings such as anxiety and suicide ideation. The current study sought to examine the effectiveness of mindfulness-based intervention on suicide ideation among left-behind children in China. METHODS: This study investigated the effects of an 8-week mindfulness training programme on suicide ideation of left-behind children in China. Forty-nine left-behind children completed a pretest and posttest on mindfulness level, social anxiety, self-esteem, and suicide ideation, with 21 in the mindfulness training group and 28 in the waitlist control group. RESULTS: Adjusting for pretest differences analyses of covariance found that, compared with waitlist control group, the mindfulness training group showed a significant improvement in mindfulness level and decreases in social anxiety and suicide ideation after the 8-week mindfulness training. CONCLUSION: The findings from this study support that the use of mindfulness-based intervention can effectively reduce the suicide ideation and social anxiety of left-behind children in China.