This study aimed to systematically review evidence of the prevalence and predictors of depression and anxiety among ‘left‐behind children’ in rural China. The electronic databases PubMed/MEDLINE and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure/Wanfang (Chinese) were utilized to search for terms including ‘depression’ or ‘depressive disorder’, ‘anxiety’ or ‘mental health’, combined with ‘left behind’, ‘children’ and ‘China’. High rates of psychological depression/anxiety have been reported among left‐behind children compared with their age‐matched peers. Prevalence rates of depression are reported to range from 12.1 to 51.4% and of anxiety are reported to range from 13.2 to 57.6%. Variability between studies is likely attributable to methodological variations relating to measures used and research setting. Potential predictors measured in studies include age and gender, types of being left, age/years of separation, socio‐economic status, etc. These high rates of reported psychological problems among this group of young people suggest the need to develop more effective approaches to prevention and management.