Crop germplasm resources are the heritages of human through long-term breeding and passing on process， and strategic resources of ensuring food security and sustainable agricultural development. The property rights regime plays a key role in ensuring the national germplasm resources safety， encouraging the germplasm enhancement activities， and promoting the conservation and sustainable utilization of crop germplasm resources. In China， the property rights regime is complex， and protection system is incomplete. This paper， on the basis of elaborating the theory framework of crop germplasm resources， elaborates the concepts and contents of human rights to survival， sovereign rights and farmer's rights， which form the basic rights over crop germplasm resources； explores the options and possibilities on recognizing and granting the ownerships of state， community and individual for property rights over crop germplasm resources； expounds the functions of protecting crop germplasm resources by intellectual property rights， including plant new variety rights， trademark rights， geographic indicators， important heritage of agricultural culture and patent rights. Finally， authors look into the trends and propose the priorities in developing property rights system of crop germplasm resources in view of the actual needs in ensuring food security and sustainable agricultural development. It is a reference for researchers and policy makers on the areas of crop germplasm resources.