Let \(\mathcal {D}\) be a non-trivial design and \(G\le Aut(\mathcal {D})\) be block-transitive. We give a sufficient and necessary condition that \(\mathcal {D}\) is a G-block-transitive, (G, s)-chain imprimitive 3-design for any integer \(s\ge 2\). Furthermore, using this criterion, we find some examples of 3-designs with a G-block-transitive, (G, 3)-chain imprimitive automorphism group.