[Objectives]  To investigate insecticide resistance levels in different Apolygus lucorum populations and to thereby improve both the chemical control of this pest and resistance management. [Methods]  Samples of A. lucorum populations were collected from the Yellow River Cotton Growing Area (YRCA) and the Changjiang River Cotton Growing Area (CRCA) between 2011 and 2014 and their resistance to beta-cypermethrin and chlorpyrifos measured in a glass-vial bioassay. [Results]  Compared with a susceptible laboratory strain (SLF), populations from Nanjing in Jiangsu Province and Chuzhou in Anhui Province (CRCA) were still susceptible to the two insecticides (< 5-fold resistance), but populations from Yancheng in Jiangsu Province (CRCA) had low levels of resistance to beta-cypermethrin (3.4-8.5 fold resistance) and chlorpyrifos (3.3-5.8 fold resistance). However, populations collected from Anyang in Henan Province, Binzou in Shandong Province and Cangzhou in Hebei Province (YRCA) had developed low to middle levels of resistance to beta-cypermethrin (7.1 - 22 fold) and chlorpyrifos (5.2-20 fold). [Conclusion]  Variation in susceptibility to the 2 insecticides was less than 3 fold between years for each of the 6 monitoring locations. Differences in resistance levels between populations in the YRCA and CRCA may be attributed to the history and the amount of insecticide used locally to control A. lucorum.