Gastric cancer has become one of the important public health issues endangering people's health in China. Currently, endoscopic submucosal dissection (ESD) has been used as the curative procedure of early gastric cancer without lymph node metastasis. Endoscopic resection has several advantages, including less invasiveness, permitting en bloc, histologically completed resection, accurate pathological diagnosis, lower recurrent rate and rapid recovery. The perioperative period of ESD is the time of a patient's endoscopic operative procedure; more specifically, it includes ward admission, indication, contraindication, preoperative preparation, endoscopic operation, postoperative complications, recovery and the disposal of specimen. The aim of this guideline is to assist endoscopists in providing standardized operation to patients, as well as managing perioperative complications.