Artemisinin,being extracted from Artemisia annua L.,is recommended as a firstly used drug to treat malaria by World Health Organization( WHO). During the growth and development of Artemisia annua L. in the field,a large amount of this anti-malarial compound could be released into soil ecosystems by rain leaching,root exudation and plant residues whereby to inhibit plant growth around Artemisia annua L. and microbial reproduction in soils. China is rich in cultivar resources of Artemisia annua L. and produces almost 90% of total artemisinin in the world. This medical plant is commercially grown in Three Gorges areas. Phaseolus vulgar and Vigna sinensis are grown simultaneously with this medical plant and Brassica pikenensis and Brassica chinensis after Artemisia annua L. Scientist reported previously the growth inhibition of several vegetables after growing Artemisia annua L in this areas. Therefore,allelopathic effects of artemisinin on seed germination and seedling growth of this four vegetables were studied in the present experiment. 20 healthy vegetable seeds were germinated in artemisinin solutions with variable concentrations( 0,6,12,24 and 48 mg / L) at 25℃ for 10 days. Germination rate,embryo activities and chlorophyll in leaves were then measured. In order to know the metabolisms in seeds under artemisinin treatments,seed respiration,free amino acids and soluble sugars in seeds were also analyzed at 48th hour after soaking the seeds in artemisinin solutions. The results showed that the allelopathic effects on seed germination and seedling growth varied with artemisinin concentrations and vegetable species. The high artemisinin concentrations led to the strong allelopathic effects,particularly on the seed germination of Vigna sinensis and the seedling growth of Brassica chinensis. The germination rate of Vigna sinensis and seedling height of Brassica chinensis were decreased by 75. 00% and 88. 37%,respectively. Embryo roots of Brassica chinensis ceased growing in high concentration of artemisinin. This growth inhibition on other plants could benefit the existence competition and enlarge the living space of artemisia annua L. In cultivation systems of artemisia annua L. and vegetables,to grow vegetables such as Phaseolus vulgar and Brassica pikenensis with relatively strong abilities of anti-allelopathy could increase both land use efficiencies and crop yields in the whole systems. In addition,artemisinin reduced both the root activities of the four vegetables and chlorophyll in the seedling leaves of Brassica pikenensis and Brassica chinensis but increased that in Phaseolus vulgar and Vigna sinensis. These phenomena could be considered as a physiological reason for growth retards. Simultaneously,soluble sugars and free amino acids in seeds increased significantly under artemisinin treatment. It suggests that artemisinin changed the hydrolysis reactions little if any but inhibited synthase activities in the seeds during germination,whereby to interference the metabolisms and to retard seedling growth. Further studies are necessary to detect artemisinin concentrations in the field and to understand the allelopathic effects of this anti-malarial compound on these vegetable yields.