Background The data about the clinical features and outcomes of Chinese patients with peripheral T-cell lymphomas (PTCLs) are limited. Method This retrospective study included 1031 patients of PTCL from January 2014 to March 2022 at 21 centers in China. The clinical features, treatment patterns, and survival outcomes of the Chinese PTCL population were reported. Results Among the 1031 patients, 937 patients had mature T or NK cell lymphoma (91.2%). The most common subtype was extranodal NK/T-cell lymphoma, nasal type (35.5%). The median age was 52 years, most patients had stage III-IV, and fewer patients had infiltrated bone marrow. Approximately 50% of PTCL patients received anthracycline-based chemotherapies. After a median of 25.9 months of follow-up, the median overall survival (OS) and first-line progression-free survival (1 L PFS) were 83.8 and 30.5 months, respectively. Besides, the OS and 1 L PFS were significantly different among the majority of common subtypes (P < 0.05). Multivariate analysis confirmed that age, lactate dehydrogenase level, beta-2 microglobulin level, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group Performance Status, and histologic subtypes were independent prognostic factors for survival. The CD30 was expressed across all subtypes (P < 0.05). Patients with the AITL subtype who were CD30-negative had significantly better survival outcomes than those with CD30-positive (median OS of 32.8 vs. 15.0 months, P = 0.02; median 1 L PFS of 11.0 vs. 5.2 months, P < 0.01). Conclusions We revealed the clinical characteristics and outcomes of PTCL patients in the real world in China, which may provide novel data on prognostic factors and primary treatment of PTCLs, applicable to routine clinical practice.