Objective  To investigate the effects and molecular mechanism of circular RNA(circ)_0003028 on proliferation, migration and invasion of human liver cancer cells.    Methods  Liver cancer cell line Huh7 were divided into small interfering RNA(si)-NC group, si-circ_0003028 group, microRNA(miR)-NC group, miR-498 mimics group, si-circ_0003028+anti-miR-NC group and si-circ_0003028+anti-miR-498 group. Real-time PCR was used to detect the expression levels of circ_0003028 and miR-498 in liver cancer tissues and cells of each groups. MTT was used to detect cell proliferation. Transwell was used to detect cell migration and invasion. Western blotting was used to detect protein expression. Dual luciferase reporter experiment was used to detect the target regulation relationship between circ_0003028 and miR-498.    Results  The expression level of circ_0003028(0.98±0.02 vs 1.36±0.01) increased and the expression level of miR-498(0.98±0.02 vs 0.63±0.02) decreased in liver cancer tissues (P<0.05). After inhibiting the expression of circ_0003028 or overexpression of miR-498, the expression levels of Ki-67(0.85±0.02 vs 0.41±0.02 or 0.95±0.11 vs 0.37±0.02), matrix metalloprotein(MMP)-2(0.71±0.02 vs 0.43±0.03 or 0.83±0.02 vs 0.41±0.03), and MMP-9(0.74±0.02 vs 0.37±0.02 or 0.78±0.02 vs 0.39±0.02) proteins in Huh7 cells decreased, and cell viability(1.53±0.03 vs 1.05±0.02 or 1.68±0.02 vs 1.11±0.02) decreased; the number of migration(111.40±2.12 vs 77.22±2.38 or 108.90±2.30 vs 78.44±1.46) and invasion(87.89±2.18 vs 49.78±1.98 or 80.22±1.79 vs 38.22±1.52) cells decreased, and the protein expression levels of suppressor with morphogenesis effect on genitalia-1(SMG-1) (0.76±0.02 vs 1.39±0.02 or 0.79±0.02 vs 1.39±0.02), p53(0.77±0.02 vs 1.24±0.03 or 0.82±0.03 vs 1.45±0.03), and p53-ser15(0.78±0.03 vs 1.50±0.02 or 0.82±0.02  vs1.4.04) increased (P<0.05). circ_0003028 targeted regulation of miR-498, and silencing miR-498 reversed the effects of inhibiting the expression of circ_0003028 on the proliferation, migration and invasion of Huh7 cells. Conclusion  Inhibiting the expression of circ_0003028 can inhibit the proliferation, migration and invasion of liver cancer cells by targeting miR-498 to affect the SMG-1/p53 signaling pathway.