To address the shortage of locally suitable varieties and elite sorghum ［Sorghum bicolor （L.） Moench］ germplasm resources in Jiangsu's sorghum industry， the genetic variation of 400 accessions from local and global was comprehensively analyzed in northern Jiangsu， followed by statistical analysis including the Shannon-Weaver genetic diversity index， correlation analysis， cluster analysis and principal component analysis. The results showed that these accessions exhibited rich genetic diversity. Among them， the genetic diversity indices （H′ values） of the qualitative traits， such as coleoptile color， leaf color of seedling， medium vein color， panicle type， panicle shape， glume color， grain color， tillering and grain covering， were 1.0366， 0.2235， 0.6631， 1.3980， 0.9619， 1.7641， 1.7039， 1.0631 and 0.9908， respectively. In contrast， the H′ values of quantitative traits， such as period of duration， plant height， stem diameter， main panicle length， peduncle length， grain weight per spike， thousand-grain weight， glume seed percentage， and endosperm corneous were all relatively higher， showing 2.0479， 1.9254， 2.0472， 1.9822， 2.0531， 2.0314， 2.0693， 1.4375， and 1.9265， respectively. Correlation analysis revealed that plant height was significantly positively correlated with the period of duration， panicle length， peduncle length， grain weight per spike， glume seed percentage， but significantly negatively correlated with thousand-grain weight. Grain weight per spike was significantly positively correlated with period of duration and thousand-grain weight. Panicle length was significantly positively correlated with peduncle length and glume seed percentage， and significantly negatively correlated with thousand-grain weight. Cluster analysis of the quantitative traits grouped these accessions into three clusters at the Euclidean distance of 15. Cluster I， characterized by taller plants， smaller panicle and lower thousand-grain weight， is suitable for development as energy crop. Cluster II， with the characteristics of shorter panicle length and peduncle length， can serve as germplasm for dual-purpose grain and forage breeding. Cluster III， with the characteristics of dwarf， early maturity and large panicle， can be used as a foundation for germplasm enhancement and grain sorghum breeding. Principal component analysis of quantitative traits showed that the cumulative contribution rate of four principal component factors to phenotypic variation reached 85.153%， of which the contributing rate of the first principal component was 33.209%， mainly related to panicle length and peduncle length， while the contribution rate of the second principal component was 25.189%，mainly related to the grain weight per spike， and the third one was 15.427% contributed by the thousand-grain weight. The fourth was 11.328%， mainly contributed by period of duration， plant height， stem diameter and endosperm corneous. From the experimental germplasm， eight elite accessions with shorter growth duration， shorter plant height and loose panicle type， were selected， with a potential to be used in sorghum breeding programs in Jiangsu province， China.