In the present study, the correlation of polymorphisms of the apolipoprotein E (apoE) gene with the susceptibility of essential hypertension (EH) was investigated. Single nucleotide polymorphisms of the apoE gene at the -491 A>T, +969 C>G, and +2836 G>A sites were determined in 221 non-EH individuals and 109 subjects with EH of Chinese Hui ethnicity using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. The results showed that neither the genotypic frequency nor the allelic frequency at the -491 A>T and +969 C>G sites exhibited a statistically significant difference between these two groups (P > 0.05). However, a significant difference was observed in genotypic frequency and allelic frequency at the +2836 G>A site between EH patients and non-EH individuals (P < 0.01). In addition, a significantly higher frequency of the A allele at the +2836 G>A site was also detected in EH patients (83%) compared with controls (47.5%) (P < 0.01; OR = 4.82, 95%CI = 3.25-7.17); in contrast, the frequency of the G allele at the +2836 G>A site was significantly lower (17%) in the patient group in comparison with the non-EH cohorts (52.5%) (P < 0.01; OR = 0.21, 95%CI = 0.14-0.31). These results suggest that the polymorphism at the +2836 G>A site in the apoE gene is strongly correlated with the susceptibility to EH in the Chinese Hui ethnic population.