From 1931 breeders began to favour selection of animals more suited to meat production, with shorter limbs, longer bodies and more heavily muscled rump and thighs; recently, selection is based also on factors such as growth rate, meat yield and, in cows, maternal ability.

[5] While one source reports a herdbook dating from 1856,[9] others date the institution of the Libro Genealogico ("genealogical herdbook") to 1933, when a breed standard was established and commissions were set up by the then Ministero dell'Agricoltura e delle Foreste (ministry of agriculture and forestry) to identify, mark and register morphologically suitable animals; the standard of the Chianina breed was fixed by ministerial decree of 7 August 1935.

Through exportation of breeding stock, of frozen semen and of embryos, it has reached China, Russia, Asian countries and the Americas.

A Chianina bull named Donetto holds the world record for the heaviest bull, reported by one source as 1,740 kg (3,840 lb) when exhibited at the Arezzo show in 1955,[14] but as 1,780 kg (3,920 lb) and 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) tall at the age of 8 by others including the Tenuta La Fratta, near Sinalunga in the province of Siena, where he was bred.

The skin, muzzle, switch, hooves and the tips of the horns are black, as are the natural openings – the anus, vulva, eyelids, palate, tongue, and lower part of the scrotum.

[4] Until recent years, when it was replaced by machinery, the Chianina ox was used with excellent results both in agriculture and for road transport in its area of origin, the provinces of Arezzo, Florence, Livorno, Perugia, Pisa (parts only) and Siena, and in some parts of the more distant provinces of Caserta, Latina and Terni.

It was highly adapted to the steep hill terrain and entirely suitable to the farms of the time, to mixed agriculture and to the smallholdings of the mezzadri.

[3] In Italy it is sold by name at premium prices by approved butchers, the sales receipt detailing the breed, birth and slaughter dates, identification number and other data of the animal in order to guarantee its origin.

[20] Each of the 18 principal cuts is branded with the "5R" symbol of the Consorzio Produttori Carne Bovina Pregiata delle Razze Italiane (consortium of producers of quality beef from Italian breeds), signifying the five indigenous beef breeds of Italy, the Chianina, the Marchigiana, the Maremmana, the Romagnola and the Podolica, in accordance with a ministerial decree of 5 July 1984.

For the three breeds present in central Italy, the Chianina, the Marchigiana and the Romagnola, there is also an Indicazione Geografica Protetta, or certification of region of origin, in accordance with European Community regulation 2081/92.