In this study, circ-RNF13 was clarified to be higher expressed in HCC patients with HBV infection and HBV-expressing cell lines; its expression was mainly distributed in the cytoplasm and was resistant to RNase R. Functionally, silencing circ-RNF13 exerted tumor-suppressive role in HBV-expressing HCC cells (Huh7-HBV and Hep3B-HBV), as indicated by elevated apoptosis and lowered cell proliferation, colony formation, migration and invasion, and tumor growth in vivo. Here, RNF13 is linked to hepatocellular carcinoma.