Background Athlete burnout significantly impacts athletes’ training and competitive performance. The Athlete Burnout Questionnaire (ABQ) is a widely used tool for assessing athlete burnout. However, a validated instrument for measuring athlete burnout specifically among Chinese university badminton players has been lacking. Purpose This study aimed to validate the Chinese version of the Athlete Burnout Questionnaire for Badminton (C-ABQ-B) as a tool for assessing athlete burnout in this population. This validation is crucial for understanding the relationship between athlete burnout and badminton performance among Chinese university student-athletes. Methods A multi-stage random sampling process was used to recruit 640 university student-athletes aged 18–22 from five universities in Kunming City, Yunnan Province, China. Participants completed the revised C-ABQ-B and a socio-demographic questionnaire. The C-ABQ-B was developed through a rigorous translation process by a team of bilingual researchers. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was conducted using SPSS 27.0 and MPlus 8.0 to assess the factor structure and validity of the C-ABQ-B. Results The CFA results demonstrated acceptable model fit (RMSEA = 0.061, CFI = 0.973, TLI = 0.966). The three-factor model, comprising 15 C-ABQ-B items, exhibited good psychometric properties for measuring athlete burnout. Conclusion This study contributes to the understanding of athlete burnout among Chinese university badminton players and provides a valuable tool for future research and interventions. Future studies could utilize the C-ABQ-B to investigate the relationship between athlete burnout and badminton performance in this population.