Objective: To investigate the relationship between the oxaliplatin (L-OHP)-resistance and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in human gastric cancer cells. Methods: Human gastric cancer SGC-7901 cells were continuously exposed to L-OHP with a stepwise increase in concentration in vitro, to establish the L-OHP-resistant cell line SGC-7901/L-OHP, and then, morphological examination, population doubling time and drug sensitivity determination were performed to confirm the successful establishment of SGC-7901/L-OHP cells. The expression differences of the EMT-related markers N-cadherin and E-cadherin between SGC-7901/L-OHP cells and parental cells were compared. Results: The L-OHP -resistant cell line SGC7901/L-OHP was successfully established after 6-month induction, as evidenced by their shape transference from epithelial phenotype to mesenchymal cell phenotype, population doubling time was significantly longer than that of parental cells (P<0.05), and IC50 of L-OHP was 9.7 times that of parental cells. In SGC7901/L-OHP cells compared with parental SGC-7901 cells, the N-cadherin mRNA and protein expressions were significantly increased, while the E-cadherin mRNA and protein expressions were significantly decreased (all P<0.05). Conclusion: EMT is possibly an important mechanism for the development of L-OHP resistance in human gastric cancer cells.