Objective: To explore the expression of hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1 alpha) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in gastric cancer and their relationship to tumour angiogenesis, clinicopathologic factors and prognosis. Methods: We selected 97 patients who were diagnosed with and treated for gastric cancer in our hospital from February 2010 to November 2012. Gastric cancer tissues and normal tissues adjacent to the carcinoma were collected by surgical removal. Then, immunohistochemical methods were used to detect the expression of HIF-1 alpha and VEGF in the gastric cancer tissues and adjacent normal tissues. The microvascular density (MVD) was also measured in the carcinoma tissues. Finally, the relationship between the expression of HIF-1 alpha and VEGF as well as the relationship between HIF-1 alpha and VEGF expression levels and MVD, clinical pathologic factors and gastric cancer prognosis were determined. Results: The expression of the HIF-1 alpha and VEGF proteins in gastric cancer tissues was significantly higher than that in normal paracancerous tissues (P<0.05). The MVD of the patients with gastric cancer and positive HIF-1 alpha expression was significantly higher than that in patients with negative HIF-1 alpha expression (P<0.05). The MVD of gastric cancer patients with positive VEGF protein expression was significantly higher than that in patients with negative VEGF protein expression (P<0.05). The expression levels of HIF-1 alpha and VEGF were significantly different in patients with different TNM stages, invasion depths and lymph node metastases (P<0.05). The survival rates of gastric cancer patients with positive HIF-1 alpha expression were significantly lower than those of patients with negative expression (P<0.05). The survival rates of patients with positive VEGF expression in gastric cancer tissues were significantly lower than those of patients with negative expression (P<0.05). The expression of HIF-1 alpha was positively correlated with VEGF expression in gastric cancer (P<0.05). Conclusion: HIF-1 alpha and VEGF are highly expressed in gastric cancer tissues. HIF-1 alpha and VEGF were associated with tumour angiogenesis, TNM stage, depth of infiltration, lymph node metastasis and prognosis. The expression of VEGF was positively correlated with the expression of HIF-1 alpha in gastric cancer.