Introduction Venous thromboembolism (VTE) in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) is not rare, which would affect the patient's prognosis. Objectives Methods To examine the prevalence, risk factors and clinical characteristics of AECOPD patients with VTE. We performed this multi-center, prospective, observational study that involved 16 hospitals in China. Patients admitted to hospital due to AECOPD were consecutively enrolled. Baseline characteristics, VTE risk factors, symptoms, signs and auxiliary examination results were collected. Lower limb venous ultrasound and computed tomography pulmonary angiography were examined. Results Conclusion Between June 2009 and October 2010, a total of 1144 AECOPD patients (the average age 72.0 +/- 9.1 years, 761 males) were enrolled in this study. Seventy-eight (6.8%) were diagnosed with VTE, including 24 PE, 64 DVT, 10 combined PE and DVT. VTE patients were older than non-VTE patients. History of venous thromboembolism and lower extremity varicose vein, and presence of longer immobility (>= 3 days), lower limbs problems of swelling, pain and walking difficulties, diuretics use, fever, syncope, higher d-dimer and lower hemoglobin were more common in VTE patients than in non-VTE patients. After adjusting the covariates, venous thrombosis history, prolonged immobility (>= 3 days), lower limb pain before hospitalization, higher d-dimer independently associated with VTE development. Regular glucocorticoid use was not associated with increased risk of VTE in this set of patients. VTE is relatively common among hospitalized AECOPD patients. Conventional prophylactic anticoagulant therapy may be considered for those hospitalized AECOPD patients with risk factors.