Abstract: Evidence-based medicine calls for consideration of the best available evidence and incorporation of patient values and preferences in health care decisions. The rationale of shared decision making is that both physicians and patients are experts, the physicians on medicine and the patients on their own preferences. Thus, it is essential for physicians and patients to exchange their expertise and make decisions together. To realize shared decision making in practice, physicians need to learn how to acquire the best available evidence, and how to use the decision aid to implement the shared decision making.This article compares different decision making approaches, and discusses the theory, practice, and the barriers to shared decision making specifically in China, aiming to support better clinical decision making and improvement of healthcare quality.