Abstract: Tree breeding, and the production and application of the improved varieties are of great importance for improving national forest quality, with characteristics such as economic, public welfare, regionalism, long-term, and inheritance. In the face of China’s limited scientific and technological resources on forest genetics and tree breeding, it is necessary to systematically lay at the national level, form a long-term and sustainable national funding mechanism, and focus on the key theories and technologies for genetic improvement of major target traits of important tree species for continuous research and development. Among them, it would be more beneficial to focus on the following issues. Firstly, on the premise of conducting tree breeding according to the breeding zones, and seed production and using the varieties according to the seed zones, attention should be paid to genetic improvement of key target traits such as wood yield and quality, to ensure that the limited investment in sciences and technologies on forest genetics and tree breeding could play a greater role. Secondly, systematic research on the genetic basis of the formation of main target traits in forest trees should be given attention. By revealing the key genes and their allelic variation patterns that determine the important target traits, good conditions can be created for intelligent molecular design breeding of contemporary forest trees, as well as future ideal variety breeding. Thirdly, the construction of first-generation selected populations and high-generation breeding populations should be emphasized. Continuous recurrent selection based on germplasm resources with better genetic qualities should be carried out to earn an increasing genetic gain. Fourthly, the most suitable breeding and seed production methods should be adopted depending on forest management patterns to avoid the waste of scientific and technological resources, as well as the ecological problems that may arise from improper use of improved varieties. Efforts should be made to meet the demands of the reality and long-term development of forest quality improvement and ideal forest management. Thereby, based on rapidly promoting the selection and application of high-quality forest seeds, we aim to consolidate the genetic basis, promote genetic progress, reshape genetic quality of national forests, and promote the healthier and of higher quality development of national forests.

Key words: forest tree breeding, target traits, first-generation selected population, breeding population, recurrent selection, seed production