Objective To explore the effect of aldehyde dehydrogenase 2（ ALDH2） gene polymorphism on cognitive function in people with high or low drinking risk. Methods From April to December 2016， the drinking population from 10 units in 4 towns in Gaocheng District， Shijiazhuang， Hebei Province and who have participated in the entry physical examination in Gaocheng People's Hospital were investigated. According to the WHO Recommended Alcohol Use Disorder Screening Scale（ AUDIT）， 1 114 subjects were divided into two groups： high-risk drinking group（ AUDIT score ≥ 8 points， n=509） and low-risk drinking group（ AUDIT score ＜8 points， n=605）. DNA was extracted from 200 blood samples randomly from each group for rs671 locus of ALDH2 gene polymorphism analysis. The cognitive function status of the two groups was analyzed using the Simple Visual Spatial Memory Test（ BVMT-R）， the Hopkins Vocabulary Learning Test（ HVLT-R）， the Digital Sign Test（ SDMT）， and the Digital Breadth Test（ DS）. Results The total score of HVLT-R， the score of 2nd test and the score of SDMT of the high-risk drinking group［ （22.53±5.54），（ 7.75±2.25），（ 52.33±14.16）， respectively］ were all lower than those of the low-risk drinking group［ （24.10±5.44），（ 8.37±2.00）， （55.91±13.07）， respectively］（ P ＜ 0.05）. The wild homozygous GG genotype ratio of the high-risk drinking group was higher than that of the low-risk drinking group［ 86.67%（169/195） vs. 64.13%（118/184）， P＜0.05］. The drinking group and genotype have interactions in the BVMT-R total score， score of the second tests， and score of the third tests（ P ＜ 0.05）. The cognitive function of the low-risk drinkers was related with the rs671 gene polymorphism， in which the total HVLT-R score and the scores of test 2 and test 3， and the total BVMT-R score and the scores of test 2 and test 3 of the GG（ wild homozygous） subjects［ （24.70±5.68），（8.58±2.26）， （9.65±2.09），（26.51±7.03），（9.37±2.78），（10.70±2.12）， respectively］ were higher than those of the GA and AA subjects［ （23.03±4.83），（7.98±1.83），（9.12±1.90），（24.30±6.52），（8.65±2.43），（10.00±2.35）， respectively］. Conclusions High-risk drinking is associated with a decrease in learning， memory， and related information processing speed. The cognitive function of low-risk drinkers is related to the polymorphism of ALDH2 gene， and the impairment of word learning， memory， and visual learning function is significant in mutant ALDH2 gene carriers.