Objective：To investigate the expression and role of long non-coding RNA LINC01197 in gastric cancer. Methods：The expression of LINC01197 in gastric cancer tissues and paracancerous tissues was analyzed based on GEPIA database. Human gastric epithelial cell line（GES-1）and different gastric cancer cell lines（SGC-7901，BGC-823，MGC-803，and AGS）were cultured respectively，and the expression of LINC01197 was examined by real-time fluorescent quantitative PCR（qPCR）. Cell lines SGC-7901 and BGC-823 were transfected with short-hairpin RNA targeting LINC01197（shLINC01197），CCK-8 assays and colony formation assays were carried out to evaluate cell proliferation，transwell assays was performed to evaluate the capability of invasion and migration. Nude mice were implanted with SGC-7901 and BGC-823 subcutaneously to evaluate tumor cell growth in vivo. mRNA-seq assay was used to screen the differential expressed genes after LINC01197 knockdown. The expression of SERPINA1 was detected by qPCR and Western blot. Results：The expressions of LINC01197 in gastric cancer tissues and cell lines were higher than those in paracancerous tissues and GES-1 cells respectively（P < 0.05）. The cell proliferation，invasion and migration were significantly suppressed after LINC01197 knockdown in gastric cancer cell lines（P < 0.05）. The tumor growth in vivo was significantly inhibited after LIN01197 knockdown（P < 0.01）. The knockdown of LINC01197 substantially decreased the expression of SERPINA（P < 0.05）. Conclusion：LINC01197 was up-regulated in gastric cancer tissues compared to their paired paracancerous tissues and in gastric cancer cell lines compared to GES-1. Down-regulation of LINC01197 would inhibit cell proliferation，invasion and migration capability in gastric cancer cells through partly inhibiting the expression of SERPINA1.