Abstract: The mitochondrial DNA 12S rRNA in seven Chinese local yellow cattle breeds, one cultivated breed and three imported breeds was studied by single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP). Three haplotypes (Ⅰ,Ⅱ, Ⅲ) were detected, with haplotypeⅠfound only in one cattle of the Jinnan breed. Haplotype Ⅱ did not appear in the foreign cattle breeds and low in Chinese-Simmental breed but was rich in Chinese local breeds. Haplotype Ⅲ had the widest distribution and was present in ten cattle breeds. The average polymorphism information content (PIC) for Chinese cattle between 0.232－0.423 was modest, which suggested relative abundance of genetic resources for the Chinese native cattle.