Hormones and their receptors affect the development process of gastric cancer. Previous studies have revealed that human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is expressed in gastric cancer tissue. However, the mechanism by which hCG exerts its effects on gastric cancer cells had not been reported. In the present study, the expression of hCG and its receptor was detected in gastric cancer tissues and para-carcinoma tissues of 62 patients with gastric carcinoma. Following the treatment of gastric cancer cells SGC-7901 with hCG, a cell counting kit-8 assay, flow cytometry, a colony formation assay and a xenograft tumor model in nude mice were used to detect the effect of hCG on cell proliferation; and the expression of c-Met was determined by western blot analysis. The expression of hCG and its receptor were significantly higher in gastric cancer tissues compared with that of the matched para-carcinoma tissue (P<0.01). Proliferation of SGC-7901 cells treated with hCG was significant higher and the number of cells at the G(2)/M phase of the cell cycle increased compared with the control cells. Hepatocyte growth factor transmembrane protein receptor expression was increased in hCG-treated cells compared with the control cells, which relies on the protein kinase A signaling pathway. The present study revealed the potential function of hCG in the development of gastric cancer, suggesting that hCG may be a molecular marker and potential drug target in gastric cancer.