The findings of a new study published in Oncotarget indicated that several types of medication and renal biopsies should be used more frequently in the treatment of Chinese chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients with diabetes mellitus (DM). Overall, 3499 pre-dialysis CKD patients across China were recruited in the Chinese Cohort Study of Chronic Kidney Disease, between November 2011 and April 2016. These patients were grouped as CKD with DM and CKD without DM and their clinical, demographic, and laboratory data were compared. The findings revealed that CKD patients with DM were older, had a higher male-to-female ratio, and had more complications than CKD patients without DM. Additionally, age, smoking, and 24-hour urinary protein levels were associated with co-occurrence of CKD and DM. It was also noted that < 50% of patients in either group took antilipemic, cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, or anti-anemic drugs. Furthermore, only 18.38% of CKD patients with DM had undergone a renal biopsy, while diabetic nephropathy was confirmed in 35.4%.