Objective To study the method of chemical brightening treatment for austenitic stainless steel after low-temperature plasma carburizing. Methods This paper adopted chemical treatment method to brighten the surface of the carburized 316L austenite stainless steel. The chemical treatments included acid-washing(180 ~200 g/ L of oxalic acid,10 ~15 g/ L of thiourea, 10 ~ 15 mL/ L of OP-10,the temperature was 70 ℃, the time was 3 minutes), removing accumulated carbon (610 g/ L of orthodichlorobezene,30 g/ L of water,20 g/ L of sodium hydroxide,100 g/ L of oleic acid, 240 g/ L of cresol, the temperature was 70 ℃, ultrosonic cleaning for 120 minutes), alkali-washing (110 g/ L of sodium hydroxide,110 g/ L of sodium carbonate,50 g/ L of potassium permanganate, the temperature was 70 ℃, ultrosonic cleaning for 30 minutes) and acid-washing (180 ~200 g/ L of oxalic acid,10 ~ 15 g/ L of thiourea, 10 ~ 15 mL/ L of OP-10, the temperature was 70 ℃, ultrosonic cleaning for 1 minute). Austenite stainless steel after low-temperature plasma surface hardening was brightened by means of chemical method. The thickness, microstructure, microhardness and corrosion resistance of the samples before and after brightening were compared. Results Experimental results showed that the chemical brightening could restore its original color of the hardened stainless steel. Conclusion The thickness and surface hardness of the hardened layer decreased slightly after chemical brightening. However, the corrosion-resistant property was much better than that of the sample before chemical brightening.