OBJECTIVE： To understand the distribution and drug resistance of the pathogens by sputum culture in patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease （AECOPD） in our hospital so as to provide reference for rational use of antibiotics. METHODS： From Dec. 2010 to Dec. 2014， the sputum specimens were collected from the AECOPD patients， then the identification of 307 strains of pathogens and drug susceptibility test were carried out， and the data were analyzed statistically by using SPSS 17.0 software. RESULTS： A total of 307 strains of pathogens were collected， of which 17 cases of gram-positive bacillus accounted （5.54％）， 247 cases of gram negative cocci （80.46％）， 43 cases of fungi accounted （14.00％）. The most common isolates from sputum specimens were Pseudomonas aeruginosa （33.22％）， Acinetobacter baumannii （19.54％）， Stenotrophomonas maltophilia （9.77％）， Klebsiella pneumoniae （7.82％）， Candida albicans （6.84％）， etc. P. aeruginosa and A. baumannii were highly multidrug-resistant. There were 10 strains of ESBLs-producing K. pneumonia isolated， with the isolation rate of 41.67％. No Staphylococcus aureus strain was found resistant to vancomycin， teicoplanin or linezolid. Methicillin resistant strains in S. aureus （MRSA） accounted for 50.00％. CONCLUSIONS： Gram-negative bacilli are the most common pathogens in the AECOPD patients. The common species of pathogens are highly resistant. More attention should be paid to the drug resistance monitoring of pathogens and rational use of antibiotics according to the results of susceptibility test.