The odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to evaluate the association strength between <i>IL-16</i> gene polymorphism and T2DM risk.<b>Results:</b> The TG genotype and G allele frequencies of rs11556218 increased remarkably in the case group than that in controls (45.86 vs 33.86%; 29.70 vs 20.87%), and the differences reached a significant level (<i>P</i><0.05).