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Accessible summary: What is known on the subject: Low utilization of the family‐oriented community rehabilitation services is a threatening challenge facing low‐ and middle‐ income countries.Family caregiver's trust in community healthcare providers is the precondition of service utilization and is shaped by their perceived quality of primary healthcare services from previous experience.Most of the studies concerning the relationship between perceived quality and institutional trust were conducted in western countries, resulting in limited attention paid to conditions in non‐western countries. Which aspect of quality predicts institutional trust in China has not been studied yet. What the paper adds to existing knowledge: In China's context, institutional trust was generally associated with communication, worry relief and risk of privacy leak, but not with technical competence.Significant rural–urban disparity was observed: among rural respondents, institutional trust was associated with technical competence, communication and risk of privacy leak, but not with worry relief; institutional trust was only associated with worry relief in urban respondents. What are the implications for practice: Mental health nurses training or working with community healthcare workers may improve their technical and communicative competence. Priorities may differ between rural and urban areas.Mental health nurses or community healthcare workers may provide more family‐oriented psycho‐education to rural families, and more emotional support to urban families.Wider public anti‐stigma initiatives are needed to reduce the affiliated stigma of families of persons diagnosed with a severe mental illness. Introduction: Prior studies suggested that caregiver's trust in community healthcare providers is the precondition of the utilization of community‐based rehabilitation services and is shaped by their perceived quality of primary healthcare services. Nevertheless, the research conducted in non‐western countries is scarce, and which aspect of quality is associated with institutional trust in China has not been studied. Aim: To explore the association between perceived quality of primary healthcare services and institutional trust in China's context. Methods: This cross‐sectional study was conducted with 796 family caregivers from Eastern, Central and Western China between August 2018 and October 2019. Perceived quality of primary healthcare services was measured by technical competence, communication, worry relief and risk of privacy leak. Results: Institutional trust was generally associated with communication, worry relief and risk of privacy leak, but not with technical competence. Among rural respondents, institutional trust was associated with technical competence, communication and risk of privacy leak, but not with worry relief. Contrary finding was observed in urban respondents. Discussion and implications for practice: With rural–urban disparity considered, strategies such as improving the technical and communicative competence of community healthcare workers, providing family‐oriented psycho‐education and emotional support, and promoting public anti‐stigma initiatives may be worth consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]