Objective To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Self-screening Questionnaire for Somatoform Symptoms （SQSS） among Chinese residents， and analyze the characteristics of participants with functional somatic symptoms. Methods From February to March 2020， convenience sampling was used to send the General Information Questionnaire， SQSS， Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale （GAD-7），9-item Patient Health Questionnaire （PHQ-9）， and 7-item Whitely Index （WI-7） to Chinese residents through Wenjuanxing. Two weeks later， 100 participants were selected using a random number table method for retesting of SQSS. Item analysis was carried out by correlation analysis between item scores and total scores of the scale and extreme group test. Validity was tested through exploratory factor analysis， confirmatory factor analysis. Reliability was tested by internal consistency Cronbach's α coefficient， split half reliability coefficient， and retest correlation coefficient. Chi square test and t-test were used to compare general and clinical data of participants with and without functional somatic symptoms. Results A total of 1 506 questionnaires were collected， 56 invalid questionnaires were excluded and 1 450 （96.3%） subjects were included. Item analysis of SQSS showed that the scores of each item were positively correlated with the total score of the scale， and the difference was statistically significant （r=0.49 to 0.70， all P＜ 0.001）. The discrimination analysis of each item showed statistically significant differences （t=15.337 to 27.862， all P ＜ 0.001）. Exploratory factor analysis showed that the SQSS scale could be divided into four dimensions. Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the 4-factor structural model of SQSS fitted well， with a chi square/degree of freedom （χ2 /df） of 5.79， a goodness-of-fit index （GFI） of 0.94， root mean square error Approximation （RMSEA） of 0.06， root mean square residual （RMR） of 0.03， comparative fit index （CFI） of 0.93， normed fit index （NFI） of 0.92， non-normed fit index （NNFI） of 0.92， and Tucker Lewis index （TLI） of 0.92. The Cronbach's α coefficient of SQSS was 0.92， and the split half reliability coefficient was 0.90. The total score of SQSS was positively correlated with the scores of WI-7， PHQ-9， and GAD-7， and the differences were statistically significant （r=0.67， 0.68， 0.61； all P＜ 0.01）. The detection rate of functional somatic symptoms among ordinary residents was 10.28% （149/1 450） based on the 29 points of the SQSS scale as the cut-off point. Among the patients with positive functional somatic symptoms， there were more females， those with mental illness， and those with chronic somatic diseases （χ2 =5.12， 29.90， 34.08； all P＜ 0.05）， and the SQSS， GAD-7， PHQ-9， and WI-7 scores of individuals with functional somatic symptoms were higher than those of the negative individuals （Z=20.03，14.51，13.03，15.27； all P＜ 0.001）， and the differences were statistically significant. Conclusions The SQSS has good validity and reliability， and can be used for functional somatic symptom self-screening in the general population. The detection rate of functional somatic symptoms is relatively high among ordinary Chinese residents.