To establish a new animal model of the human type 2 diabetes mellitus and investigate the change of ATP binding cassette transporter A1 expression in diabetic minipigs, Chinese minipigs were fed a normal control diet (CD) or a high fat/high sucrose diet (HFSD) for 6 months. Plasma total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), triglycerides (TG) and glucose were determined by commercially enzymatic methods. Plasma free fatty acids (FFA) were measured by a colorimetric method. ABCA1 mRNA and protein level were determined by reverse trancriptase-polymerase chaim reaction(RT-PCR), Western blot and immunohistochemistry, respectively. After HFSD for 6 months, plasma serum total cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, FFA, triglyceride, and glucose in diabetic minipigs were increased compared with the control. Insulin level of diabetic minipigs was increased in the first 3 months and then decreased at the end of the 6th month. ATP binding cassette transporter A1 expression and liver X receptor α in diabetic minipigs was upregulated. HFSD may induce hyperglycemia, hypercholesterolemia, hypertriglyceridemia and upregulation of ATP binding cassette transporter A1 expression and liver X receptor α in diabetic minipigs.