A novel yellow-pigmented, non-motile, non-sporulating, catalase- and oxidase-positive, obligately aerobic, moderately halophilic, facultatively alkaliphilic Gram-positive coccus, strain YIM Y15(T), was isolated from a brine sample from a salt mine in Yunnan, south-west China. Strain YIM Y15(T) grew in the presence of 0.5-25 % (w/v) NaCl and at pH 6.0-10.0, with optimum growth at 8-10 % (w/v) NaCl and pH 8.0. It grew at 4-45 degrees C, with optimum growth at 37.0 degrees C. The major cellular fatty acids were anteiso-C(15 : 0) and iso-C(15 : 0). Menaquinone 6 (MK-6) was the major respiratory quinone. The cell wall contained Lys and Gly. The DNA G+C content was 46.2 mol%. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons revealed that strain YIM Y15(T) was a member of the genus Salinicoccus, with low 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to the type strains of the five described species of the genus, Salinicoccus alkaliphilus JCM 11311(T) (sequence similarity 96.0 %), Salinicoccus roseus DSM 5351(T) (94.9 %), Salinicoccus jeotgali KCTC 13030(T) (94.8 %), Salinicoccus salsiraiae LMG 22840(T) (94.8 %) and Salinicoccus hispanicus DSM 5352(T) (94.7 %). Together with the phenotypic differences, these results supported the proposal of a novel species of the genus Salinicoccus, Salinicoccus kunmingensis sp. nov., with YIM Y15(T) (=DSM 17847(T) =CGMCC 1.6302(T)) as the type strain.