Background: This study examines the impact of the healthcare system on healthcare seeking behaviors of outpatients in China. Methods: Data were collected from China National Health Service Surveys in 2008 and 2013, interlinked with the data from county and district levels. Multilevel zero-inflated negative binomial regression was used to analyze the impact of the healthcare system on outpatient visits, and multilevel, multinomial logit model was used to examine the impact of the healthcare system on choice of healthcare providers by outpatients. Results: An increase in the number of physicians and beds at both county hospitals and primary health centers (PHCs) was related to increased outpatient visits, particularly more physicians at PHCs. More physicians at PHCs had a positive impact on improving the likelihood of outpatient visits at PHCs. Conclusions: Investment of the healthcare resources at PHCs are crucial to improve and redistribute the healthcare seeking behaviors of outpatients in China.