A total of 53 oral Candida albicans isolates from Chinese patients with clinically diagnosed oral candidosis (27 patients) or without overt signs and mycological manifestations of infection (26) were biotyped using two commercially available API micromethod kits and a boric acid-resistance test. There were no significant differences in the biotypes in health and disease, although the biotype A1R was present only in diseased individuals. The biotype A1S accounted for 21% of the total isolates, as in a number of other previous studies from the West. However, 14 of the 27 biotypes characterized were new biotypes that have not been described before. These preliminary data indicate that biotypic profile of C. albicans may bear no relation to the virulence of the isolates, and that diverse subtypes of the fungus are globally prevalent.