In order to study the mechanical properties of early-age concrete-filled steel tube (CFST) under continuous construction process, an experimental investigation on six concrete-filled circular steel tubular short columns under multi-level loading was carried out. The influence of multi-level loading with different initial stress degrees, loading time intervals and loading levels on the deformation progression was analyzed. The bearing capacity of the columns was then tested at 28 days after the multi-level loading. The results show that creep deformation of the concrete-filled steel tubes under multi-level loading is significant and cannot be neglected. The deformation of the columns is significantly affected by the applied loading scheme. An increase of the initial stress degrees and increment of loading levels, or a reduction of loading time interval will all result in an increase of the deformation of the columns. However, the multi-level loading process has only small impact on the bearing capacity of the CFST short columns after 28 days.