Abstract: To evaluate the potential of anthropogenic habitats as the surrogates for natural habitats is a key issue in restoration ecology. In this study, comparisons were made on the community metrics (richness, biomass, and abundance) of resident benthic macrofauna in oyster aquaculture gears (AG) and adjacent natural intertidal oyster (Crassostrea sikamea) reef (NR) in the Xiangshan Bay of Zhejiang Province, with the relative habitat values of AG to NR assessed. There were significantly greater densities and biomass of living oysters in AG than in NR, and the cultured oyster population had a greater mean shell height than the natural populations. A total of 28 species of benthic macrofauna were recorded, with 22 species in AG and 15 species in NR. The total benthic macrofaunal density and biomass were not significantly different between AG and NR, but in AG, there were significantly greater densities and biomass of crustaceans and polychaetes but fewer mollusks. The species richness was similar between the two habitat types. However, greater Pielou evenness and Shannon index were observed at NR. The non-metric multidimensional scaling ordination showed there was a clear separation in the resident benthic macrofauna communities between AG and NR, indicating that these habitats facilitate unique species assemblages. These findings suggested that AG could maintain the diverse and abundant benthic macrofauna communities, and provide similar habitat functioning as NR.