The first publication of Rosa chinensis was in 1768 by Nikolaus Joseph von Jacquin in Observationum Botanicarum, 3, p. 7 & plate 55.

The strong branches have a smooth purplish-brown bark, and there may be many to no curved, stocky, flat spines.

The leaf blades usually have three or five or, rarely, seven leaflets, 2.5 to 6 centimeters in length, with a width of 1 to 3 centimeters, ovate or ovate-oblong with a weak-rounded or broad and wedge-shaped base, a more-or-less long, tapered apex and sharply toothed edge.

There are cultivated forms with simple to more or less strongly double flowers, which are also wild in China and nearby areas of temperate latitudes.

The five to several or many petals are white-over-pink to red or purple, obovate with a wedge-shaped base and a rounded apex.

The species is extensively cultivated as an ornamental plant, and numerous cultivars have been selected, which are known as the China roses.

From the rosehips, a thin fleshy layer that surrounds the seeds is eaten raw or cooked.