Background Recently, the attempts to promote advance care planning (ACP) and advance directives (ADs) have appeared in mainland China. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that the concept of ACP and ADs is not widely known to the public and healthcare professionals. Aim To examine and synthesise currently available research about ACP and ADs for older people in mainland China, and to discuss implications for future nursing practice and research. Design An integrative literature review. Methods A systematic search was conducted in seven English electronic databases (CINAHL, MEDLINE, ProQuest, Cochrane, JBI, Scopus and Wiley) and four Chinese electronic databases (CNKI, Wanfang, VIP and CBM). Eligible articles were critically appraised using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool (MMAT). Findings From various groups including older people, families and healthcare professionals, low levels of knowledge and awareness about ACP and ADs are reported. Demographic characteristics such as age, gender, education and clinical conditions were related to positive or negative attitude towards ACP. The main reason people cited for being ‘reluctant/fairly reluctant’ to make an AD was that they were ‘Not familiar with it’. Conclusions Given that older people showed positive attitudes towards ACP, policy support and practice guidelines about ADs and ACP are necessary to respect their wishes and to guide healthcare professionals in mainland China.