Abstract: Quality improvement has become an important objective for wheat breeding, and the aim of this paper is to review the progress of quality evaluation and improvement methods of Chinese wheat during the last ten years. (1) A standardized quality evaluation system including end-use quality testing and use of molecular markers has been established, a laboratory protocol and evaluation method was developed for Chinese noodles, selection criterion and molecular markers were identified. Laboratory testing protocols for pan bread, north style steamed bread, an dcookie have also been optimized. (2) An acidic capillary electrophoresis method for separation of high molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS) and MALDI-TOF-MS for separation of high and low molecular weight glutenin subunits (HMW-GS and LMW-GS) were established. A water soluble protein, named WS-6, was found to be directly linked with gluten quality, and SDS-PAGE method was used to investigate the composition of HMW-GS and LMW-GS of Chinese wheat, and association between glutenin subunits and quality performance of pan bread and Chinese noodle quality were clarified. Y-type gene specific markers for discrimination of HMW-GS at Glu-B1 locus were established and the association between LMW-GS genes and alleles at Glu-D3 locus were identified. (3) Grain hardness distribution and occurrence of puroindoline alleles in Chinese wheat were characterized, and five new mutations were discovered. (4) A regional wheat quality proposal was developed and released by the Ministry of Agriculture. Three groups of parents were recommended to provincial wheat breeding programs. Future directions for quality improvement in China are also proposed.

Key words: Common wheat, Kernel hardness, Storage protein, Noodle quality, Molecular marker, Review