Callus cultures of Pseudotaxus chienii (Cheng)Cheng were induced using different tissue explants including y oung stems and needles .The effecs of different concentrations and ratios of auxin and cytokinin on callus growth were analyzed. Cell suspensions of stem callus were g ro wn for 30 days in shake flasks containing MS medium supplemented with 5 mg/ L NAA, 1 mg/L BA and 3% sucrose. Through the growth cycle, fresh and dry w eight accumulation , pH variation in the medium , and the uptake of sucrose was examined .T he dry weight of the cell cultures approached its maximum value on the 25th day or so.A biomass y ield of 16.67 g/ L was obtained. Total carbo hydrate uptake was closely associa ted with the increase in dry bio mass .The average sucrose consumption rate was 0.83 g/ L·d. The amounts of taxol in the cell were determined by reversephase hig h perfo rmance liquid chromatography.The average amount of taxol in the dry biomass w as 9×10^-8 g/ g.