Abstract: The contents of 12 compounds, viz. glycyrrhizinic acid, uralsaponin A, uralsaponin B, liquiritin, isoliquiritin, liquiritigenin, isoliquiritigenin, glycycoumarin, isoglycycoumarin, licochalcone A, glycyrol and isoglycyrol, present in Chines licorice, the roots and rhizomes of 8 Glycyrrhiza species collected from 15 districts in China, were determined by high performance liquid chromatographic method. The quality evaluation of Chinese licorice was discussed according to the results of the determinations.