The actinidin (EC 3.4.22. 14) found in kiwifruit is a cysteine protease. In order to obtain the actinidin gene from the Chinese wild kiwifruit, primers were designed on the basis of the actinidin gene of Actinidia deliciosa, the New Zealand kiwifruit. The 1.2 kb DNA fragment was acquired from the total RNAs of Chinese wild kiwifruit via reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), and its DNA sequence was analyzed. Its sequence was determined to share 98.4% homology with the actinidin gene of A. deliciosa. In order to verity the actinidin gene isolated from the Chinese wild kiwifruit in Escherichia coli, the mature gene was amplified via PCR and expressed in E. coli under the control of the T7lac promoter. The actinidin was expressed in E. coli as inclusion bodies, which were solubilized with urea and refolded. The protease activity of the refolded protein was approximately twice as high as that of E. coli BL2l (DE3).