Objective To study the effect of short-term intensive insulin therapy on beta-cell function in different courses of newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients. Methods Ninety-one newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients with fast blood glucose (FBG) >11.1 mmol/L received insulin intensive therapy for 4 weeks. We analyzed the data from 41 cases within 1 week course (group A) and 28 cases over 12 weeks course (group B). All 69 patients underwent glucose tolerance test. Insulin,glycosylated glycohemoglobin (HbA1c),albumin,blood pressure,lipid level and uric acid were also tested before and after intensive insulin therapy. HOMA-β and HOMA-IR were calculated. Results After insulin intensive therapy,FBG,albumin,HbA1c,triglyceride,low density lipoprotein-ch,systolic blood pressure,and diastolic blood pressure decreased dramatically and uric acid increased markedly in all patients (P<0.05),while there was no difference between group A and B. There was improvement in HOMA-β but not in HOMA-IR after therapy. The improvement of HOMA-β in group A was much better than that in group B. Conclusion The shorter the course of diabetes mellitus is,the better the beta-cell function will be improved. Early awareness and early treatment of type 2 diabetes are strongly recommended.