Twenty two sample of chilli (Capsicum annuum) seeds harvested in 1986 from different parts of Beijing were tested by the blotter method for the presence of Fusarium species.Fusarium equiseti, F. moniliforme, F. oxysporum, F.semitectum and F. solani were five commonly recorded species.The average infection percentage of the ffve species were 1.0, 2.6, 0.1>0.8 and 0.2 respectively.Seed germination tests showed that F.equiseti, F. moniliforme, F. oxysporum, F.semitectum and F.solani reduced germination of chilli seeds by 98.6%, 79.8%, 62.1%, 2.7% and 52.1%, respectively, under the conditions of these naturally infected seeds.Soil inoculation tests showed that all transplanted chilli seedlinges were killed within two weeks by F. equiseti when infested by a concentration of 25000 spores per gram of soil.Fortyfour percent of seedlings were killed by F. moniliforme after 50 days of inoculation, and all surviving seedlings were pale and severely stunted. F. oxysporum and F.solani killed 56% and 36% of seedlings after 30 days of inoculation, respectively.