Objective 　To evaluate the value of hsa-miR-342-5p for the childhood tuberculosis (TB) diagnosis. Methods 　 Twenty culture-positive TB, 20 culture-negative TB, 20 pneumonia and 20 healthy children were enrolled in the study. The venous blood was collected. The peripheral blood total RNA was extracted by TRIzol reagent. The expression of hsa-miR-342- 5p was detected by qRT-PCR. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to evaluate the sensitivity and specificity of hsa-miR-342-5p to diagnose childhood TB. Results　There was a significant difference of hsa-miR-342-5p level among culture-positive TB, culture-negative TB, pneumonia and healthy controls (F=21.94, P=0.00). Compared to health control, hsamiR- 342-5p was significantly lower in culture-positive TB, culture-negative TB, and pneumonia children (P<0.01). Compared to pneumonia children, hsa-miR-342-5p was also significantly lower in culture-positive TB and culture-negative TB groups (P<0.01). For distinguish culture-positive TB and pneumonia by hsa-miR-342-5p, the sensitivity and specificity were 90% and 90% respectively. For distinguish culture-negative TB and pneumonia by hsa-miR-342-5p, the sensitivity and specificity were 65% and 100% respectively. Conclusions　 The peripheral hsa-miR-342-5p is expected to become a new biomarker for early diagnosis of tuberculosis in children.