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China is a second center of oak diversity but with less intensively systematic studies. Here, with 49 species representing all four sections in China, we firstly gave insight into the comprehensive phylogenetic relationships of Chinese oaks based on 54 complete plastid genomes. Our results recovered a robust phylogenetic framework and provided strong support for most nodes. The phylogenetic tree supported Quercus section Ilex as not monophyletic, in which Quercus section Cyclobalanopsis and Quercus section Cerris were nested. Most likely, incomplete lineage sorting and/or introgression among ancestral lineages in these three sections resulted in this complex pattern. The current distribution, diversification and molecular differentiation of Q. sect. Ilex in China are likely consequences of local adaptation to the geographic and paleoclimatic changes, which were driven by the uplift of Tibetan Plateau, the Hengduan Mountains and the Himalayas. • We newly reported 37 complete plastid genomes of Quercus. • We firstly given insight into the comprehensive phylogenetic relationships of Chinese oaks based on plastid genome. • We recovered a robust phylogenetic framework based on protein-coding exons of 54 complete plastid genomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]