Objective To evaluate the efficacy of Schistosoma japonicum antibody immunoassay kit (magnetic particle antibody immunoassay, MPAIA) and Schistosoma circulating antigen detection kit (ELISA) for schistosomiasis diagnosis. Methods The serum samples of the patients suffering from schistosomiasis, paragonimosis, hookworm disease, trichinelliasis, cysticercosis, clonorchiasis or hepatitis and healthy people were tested single-blinded and randomly by MPAIA and ELISA respectively to evaluate diagnostic performance by the parameters of sensitivity, specificity, Youden index, coincidence rate, positive likelihood ratio and negative likelihood ratio, etc.. Results For acute schistosomiasis japonica, the sensitivity of MPAIA and ELISA were 100% and 89. 13% , respectively. There was no difference between the performance of two kits (χ2= 1. 125,P>0.05), and the consensus was high (kappa = 0.891). For chronic schistosomiasis japonica, the sensitivity were 100% and 17. 65% .respectively. MPAIA was significantly more sensitive than ELISA(χ2 = 36. 36,P<0.05), and the consensus was very low (kappa =0.194). In non-endemic area, the specificity of the two kits were 100% and 98% respectively when used in healthy people. Except cross-reactivity of 8. 33% with paragonimiasis, MPAIA exhibited no cross-reactivity with other helminthes infection. When MPAIA and ELISA were used to test individuals infected with schistosomiasis japonica and healthy people from non-endemic area, who had been diagnosed using the gold-standard method, the Youden's index were 1 and 0. 5436 while the coincidence ratio were 100% and 76. 19% , positive likelihood ratio were oo and 28. 18, negative likelihood were 0 and 0.44, respectively. Conclusion Both MPAIA and ELISA can be used for on-site screening of schistosomiasis, but MPAIA is superior to ELISA for the detection of chronic schistosomiasis.