PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to investigate the associations of the x-ray repair cross-complementing 1 gene (XRCC1) single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) Arg194Trp, Arg280His, and Arg399Gln with gastric cancer risk. METHODS: The PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, Google Scholar, CINAHL, International Bibliography of the Social Sciences, and Social Sciences Citation Index were searched. Two authors independently searched for relevant studies in any language from 1966 to Jan 2013. RESULTS: Seventeen studies with a total population of 10427 participants were identified. The results showed there were no associations of Arg399Gln polymorphism with gastric cancer, no matter in the co-dominant model, dominant model or recessive model. For Arg194Trp and Arg280His polymorphism, still no significant differences were found between control groups and GC groups in samples regardless of race. However, significant associations between Arg194Trp polymorphism and gastric cancer were found in Asian. The Asia with mutant genotype (Trp/Trp + Arg/Trp) had a higher risk of GC compared with the Asian with wild genotype (Arg/Arg). CONCLUSION: Our meta-analysis indicates that genetic polymorphism of the XRCC1 Arg399Gln and Arg280His do not have an association with gastric cancer risk. However, for Arg194Trp polymorphism, mutant gene carriers had a higher GC risk in Asian.