Objective To establish a simple and fast-testing method for the determination of artemisinin in Artemisia annua L., thus to provide references for the industrialized process of methanol-extraction for Artemisia annua L. Methods The method was performed on a C18 column(250mm × 4.6mm, 5μm) by utilizing a mobile phase consisting of acetonitrile and water(55 : 45), and the flow rate was 1.0 mL·min-1. The detection wavelength was 210nm. Results The optimal chromatographic conditions were as follows: 40 times of methanol, extracting with ultrasound for 3 times, and 50 min for each time. Good linearity was obtained in the range of l~40μg for artemisinin(r=0.99998), and the average recovery rate of artemisinin was 99.8%(RSD=1.0%,n=6). Conclusion The assay method is simple and accurate, and can be used for the quality control of Artemisia annua L.