Abstract: Artemisinin, extracted from Artemisia annua, is the most widely used antimalarial drug. In the industry, it is extracted from the plant materials by heating reflux or maceration methods using low polarity solvents like gasoline with low extraction rate. We developed a new column chromatographic extraction (CCE) method for the extraction of artemisinin from A. annua. Dried material was loaded into a column at a height to diameter ratio of 10:1, using minimum volume (3.5-fold, v/w) of the best extraction solvent (petroleum ether: 95% ethanol = 2:8). After 1 h when artemisinin is fully dissolved, the column was eluted with the extraction solvent. The extraction efficiency in both small-scale and enlarged-scale experiments reached more than 90%, 95%, 97% or 99% when collecting 3.5-, 4.75-, 7.0- or 10.5-fold eluent, respectively. The extracts can automatically separate into petroleum ether and ethanol-aqueous phases, and the organic solvents can be completely recovered for reuse. The results indicated that the CCE method is simple, highly efficient and energy-saving, and the extraction process can be completed in a column at room temperature at low equipment and production costs. It can be used for industrial extraction of artemisinin.