A cinnamoyl CoA reductase (CCR) cDNA (ClCCR) was isolated from tabroot mRNAs of Codonopsis lanceolata by cDNA library construction, and its expression was investigated in relation to abiotic stresses. The ClCCR is 1008 bp in length with an open reading frame (ORF) of 336 amino acids. The deduced amino acid sequence was showed high similarity with cinnamoyl-CoA reductases of P. tremuloides (AAF43141) 87%, F.×aranassa (AAP46143) 83%, L. album (CAD29427) 80%, E. gunnii (CAA66063) 72%, S. tuberosum (AAN71761) 83%. Reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) analysis was revealed that the ClCCR expression was regulated by abiotic stresses.