BACKGROUND: Few studies estimated the burden of infections due to antimicrobial resistant (AMR) pathogens in China. AIM: We aimed at summarising AMR and assessing incidence densities of healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and community-associated infections (CAIs) due to AMR pathogens in Dongguan city. METHODS: Seven acute care hospitals provided antimicrobial susceptibility data of 2017 of which “bug-drug” combinations were analysed for indicator pathogens. To calculate incidence densities of HAI and incidence proportions of CAI, data from three tertiary-care hospitals were merged with patient data, obtained from the Dongguan Nosocomial Infection Surveillance System. Dates were compared with Mainland China, Germany, and Europe. FINDINGS: A total of 16,548 pathogens were analysed. Non-susceptibility to 3rd generation cephalosporins (3GC) in Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae were 43.9% and 30.2%, respectively. Non-susceptibility to carbapenems in Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Acinetobacter baumannii were 29.5% and 50.9%, respectively. A quarter of Staphylococcus aureus (26.3%) were non-susceptible to oxacillin. The incidence density of HAI due to E. coli non-susceptible to 3GC and fluoroquinolones combined was 0.09 (95% CI: 0.07-0.11) per 1,000 patient-days. Both E. coli and K. pneumoniae were the predominant pathogens isolated from blood. Compared with the 2017 European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance Network report, the incidence proportion of bloodstream infections due to multidrug-resistant E. coli was statistically significantly higher (14.9% and 4.6%, respectively). CONCLUSION: The incidence proportions of non-susceptible indicator pathogens in Dongguan city was lower compared with China as a whole. Rates of non-susceptible indicator pathogens were significantly higher in HAI compared with CAI. The incidence proportion of bloodstream infections due to multidrug-resistant pathogens in Dongguan city was higher compared with Europe.