This study used the analytic hierarchy process to evaluate the forest quality of public welfare forests in Yingde City, Guangdong Province. According to the productivity status, stand stability, and soil conditions, nine indicators such as average diameter at breast height, average tree height, and canopy density were selected, and a public welfare forest quality evaluation index system was established and graded. The results showed that the comprehensive quality grade of the public welfare forest in Yingde was good, and the productivity was excellent. The overall age group of public welfare forests were dominated by young and middle aged forests, and the area of near mature and over mature forests with good ecological benefits were relatively low. The comprehensive forest quality evaluation of public welfare forests in all age groups increased with the increasing of age composition maturity. From the weight of evaluation indicators, the productivity status was the most important indicator to evaluate the impact of public welfare forests. The canopy density, forest community structure and litter thickness were important indicators to evaluate the impact of productivity, stand stability and soil conditions on public welfare forests. It was suggested that in the future construction and management of public welfare forests, the forest structure of public welfare forests should be optimized, and the forest types and age groups should be strategically adjusted. Under the condition of not changing the existing vegetation coverage and canopy density as far as possible, appropriate thinning, replanting, and replanting should be carried out to improve the quality of forests. Long term continuous monitoring of public welfare forests should be carried out to master the dynamic change law of the quality of public welfare forests.