Rice is one of the staple food crops in China.High yield with good quality is not only the focus of rice basic studies,but also the main goal of rice breeding.Rice qualities mainly include milling quality,appearance quality,sensory quality,and nutritional quality,which are complex traits affected by both genetic and environmental factors.This article systematically reviews the classification of rice quality traits,influencing factors,the progress of the genetic basis and molecular improvement of rice quality.The prospects of studying rice quality are discussed.Sensory trait controlled by the major gene Wx is a key quality that determines whether rice is delicious or not.Wx,encoding a granular-bound starch synthase,is the major gene that affects the amylose content,gel consistency,RVA and taste of rice.Variation on Wx leads to the difference of amylose content ranging from 0-30%,the different gel consistency and taste score.ALK responsible for gelatinization temperature and fgr for fragrance of rice affect rice sensory quality as well.GS3,GW5 and Chalk5 are the major genes responsible for the diversity of the major components of rice appearance quality including grain length,grain width and grain chalkiness of rice.Molecular marker-assisted selection and genome editing of these important rice quality genes have achieved great progresses.Yet,the genetic basis of rice overall quality is still rarely understood.The quality of most commercial rice varieties in China is still not good.More studies are still needed to fully uncover the genetic basis of rice quality and to improve the quality of elite rice varieties.It will provide guidance for the genetic improvement of rice quality and the breeding of rice varieties with high-quality.