Aim To investigate the longitudinal association between handgrip strength and risk of hypertension in the middle-aged and elderly population in China. Methods The participants aged 45 years and older were selected from the China health and retirement longitudinal study(CHARLS). Multivariate Logistic regression models or linear regression models were used to analyze the associations of handgrip strength with hypertension and blood pressure. In the primary analysis, the relative maximum handgrip strength (maximum handgrip strength/body mass index) was divided into three groups according to the tertiles. Results A total of 5 876 subjects were included in this study. After an average follow-up of 3.85 years, the incidence of hypertension was 19.11%. The incidence of hypertension was increased with the decreasing of handgrip strength (P_trend＜0.05). The multivariate Logistic regression model showed that relative handgrip strength was negatively associated with the risk of hypertension after adjusting for general demographic, lifestyle, health status and other factors. The risk of hypertension in the high relative handgrip strength group was 46% (RR:0.4,5%CI:0.34～0.84, P＜0.01) and 59% (RR:0.1,5%CI:0.26～0.67, P＜0.01) lower than that in the low relative grip strength group for men and women, respectively. The systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels in high relative handgrip strength group were 3.03 mmHg and 1.33 mmHg (P＜0.05) lower than those in the low relative handgrip strength group for men, and were 4.48 mmHg and 1.92 mmHg (P＜0.05) lower than those in the low relative handgrip strength group for women. Conclusions The handgrip strength was longitudinally associated with the high risk of hypertension in middle-aged and elderly population. It suggested that handgrip strength may be a predictor of hypertension.