Purpose The aim in this study was to examine early speech perception outcomes in Mandarin-speaking children during the first year of cochlear implant (CI) use. Method A hierarchical early speech perception battery was administered to 80 children before and 3, 6, and 12 months after implantation. Demographic information was obtained to evaluate its relationship with these outcomes. Results Regardless of dialect exposure and whether a hearing aid was trialed before implantation, implant recipients were able to attain similar pre-lingual auditory skills after 12 months of CI use. Children speaking Mandarin developed early Mandarin speech perception faster than those with greater exposure to other Chinese dialects. In addition, children with better pre-implant hearing levels and younger age at implantation attained significantly better speech perception scores after 12 months of CI use. Better pre-implant hearing levels and higher maternal education level were also associated with a significantly steeper growth in early speech perception ability. Conclusions Mandarin-speaking children with CIs are able to attain early speech perception results comparable to those of their English-speaking counterparts. In addition, consistent single language input via CI probably enhances early speech perception development at least during the first-year of CI use.