Objectives To identify disease-causing mutations in two Chinese families with autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (adRP). Design Prospective analysis. Patients Two Chinese adRP families underwent genetic diagnosis. A specific hereditary eye disease enrichment panel (HEDEP) based on targeted exome capture technology was used to collect the protein coding regions of targeted 371 hereditary eye disease genes; high throughput sequencing was done with the Illumina HiSeq 2000 platform. The identified variants were confirmed with Sanger sequencing. Setting All experiments were performed in a large laboratory specialising in genetic studies in the Department of Ophthalmology, Peking University Third Hospital. Results Two novel mutations, including one splice site mutation (Int10 c.1074-2 A>T; p.Y359SfsX29) and one insertion (c.824_825insA; p.Y275X) of PRPF31 were identified in the two families. The two mutations segregated with the disease phenotype in their respective families. Conclusions Our findings broaden the spectrum of PRPF31 mutations causing adRP and the phenotypic spectrum of the disease in Chinese patients. The HEDEP based on targeted exome capture technology is an efficient method for molecular diagnosis in adRP patients.