Aim To explore the association between long, middle, recent-term high-sensitivity C-reactive protein （hs-CRP） and peripheral arterial sclerosis in middle-aged and old population. Methods Prospective cohort study method was used in our study. A total of 101510 persons who had took part in the 2006 to 2007 kailuan healthy examination were stratified randomly, and 5440 persons with sufficient information for questionnaire and blood biochemical test were recruited. The healthy examinations were taken during 2006-2007, 2008-2009 and 2010-2011, respectively. Brachial-ankle pulse wave velocity （baPWV） was measured during 2010-2011. The participants who were missed the data of hs-CRP or baPWV and who had baPWV extreme value data during the healthy examination, were excluded. 3948 participants were included for final analysis. The characteristic of the observation population was described according to the data of the three times healthy examination. Multivariate linear regression was used to analyze the relationship between hs-CRP and baPWV. Further more, in order to increase the stability of hs-CRP, the mean value of the three times of hs-CRP was used to analysis. Results Multivariate linear regression analysis showed that hs-CRP was positively correlated with baPWV. Among the long, middle, recent-term hs-CRP and mean hs-CRP, the association between mean hs-CRP and baPWV was the strongest, and the long-term hs-CRP was the weakest. The correlation between hs-CRP and baPWV gradually increased with time. The standard regression coefficients （Beta values ） were 0.16, 0.17, 0.21 and 0.22 respectively between long, middle, recent-term hs-CRP, mean hs-CRP and baPWV. After adjusted for the other covariates, the standard regression coefficients were 0.02, 0.04, 0.05 and 0.06, respectively. Conclusion The correlation between hs-CRP and baPWV is positive, and the correlation between recent-term hs-CRP and baPWV is better than long-term hs-CRP, but the strongest correlation is the mean hs-CRP that is repeatedly tested in three different times.