Abstract:In this study, 23 qualitative traits and 15 agronomic and quality quantitative traits of 239 soybean germplasm resources introduced from abroad were evaluated. Elite germplasms were screened to provide reference for soybean germplasm innovation and breeding in southern China. The results showed that those soybean germplasms represented abundant genetic diversity. The Simpson diversity index of 23 quality traits ranged from 0 to 0.672. The mature pod color diversity index was the highest, and the stem shape and pod shape diversity indexes were 0. The variation coefficients of the 15 agronomic and quality traits ranged from 4.85% to 83.73%, and the Simpson diversity index ranged from 0.6406 to 0.8526. The number of nodes on main stem diversity index was the highest, and the pod width diversity index was the lowest. The variation coefficient of bottom pod height was the highest, and the variation coefficients of crude fat content, pod length, growth duration and crude protein content were < 10%. The crude protein content was concentrated in the range of 40.01% to 45.00%, while the crude fat content was concentrated in the range of 18.01% to 20.00%. The crude protein content was only positively correlated with the bottom pod height, and the improvement of growth duration, stem diameter, seed number per plant, seed weight per plant, 100-seed weight, pod length and pod width was beneficial to the increase of crude fat content. The top 5 principal components, from top downwards, were the yield component factor, the seed and pod factor, the plant height factor, the quality factor, and the growth period factor; their cumulative contribution reached 84.419%. From those soybean germplasm resources, 14 with high crude protein content, 6 with high crude fat content, and 2 with very large seed were screened.