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Phanerozoic chronostratigraphic units can only be defined through their lower boundary stratotypes. The lowermost stage of the Paleocene of China, which mainly consists of terrestrial deposits, can only be defined through its lower boundary stratotype, i.e. the continental Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary stratotype. There is no section yet found which contains continuous terrestrial deposits and biostratigraphic records of the Cretaceous-Paleogene transition in Nanxiong, Guangdong and Jiayin, Heilongjiang, there is no evidence for establishing the continental stratotype of the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary in either area. Therefore, both the “Shanghuan stage” and “Furaoan stage” are not good candidates for the lowermost stage of the Paleocene of China. From the viewpoint of charophytes, the outcrop section of the Dangyang, Hubei Province (Central China) contains the most continuous, abundant and diverse terrestrial biostratigraphic records of the Cretaceous-Paleogene transition, in particular the early Paleocene, known so far in the world. The biostratigraphic records of ostracods in the transition are also continuous, rich, and diverse. The Dangyang outcrop section is the only section known so far in China that is a possible candidate for a continental stratotype of the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary in China and the section is the only potential section identified to date for establishing the regional lowermost stage of the Paleocene, Paleogene and Cenozoic in China or stratotype section for the stage.

A well‐preserved fossil pollen flora from the Bose Basin located in mid‐western Guangxi, South China (long. 106°34’ ‐ 107°21'E and lat. 23°28 ‐ 23°55'N), consists of some 160 types belonging to 121 genera and 62 families. Four pollen and spore assemblages are recognized (from the bottom upward) for the Late Eocene Nadu Formation: Polypodiaceae‐Pinuspollenites assemblage, Quercoidites‐Ulmipollenites assemblage, Alnipollenites‐Tricolporopollenites assemblage, and Pinuspollenites‐Quercoidites assemblage. The pollen flora of the Bose Basin represents a mixed evergreen and deciduous broad‐leaved forest that consisted mainly of Fagaceae, Ulmaceae, Betulaceae, and Juglandaceae along with a number of subtropical to tropical evergreen trees. Relatively common occurrence of Pinaceae pollen probably indicates a conifer forest or woodland on the mountain area not far from the lowland sediment basin. This type of paleovegetation is similar to the modern mixed evergreen and deciduous broad‐leaved forest in sou...

A flora containing both plant microfossils and megafossils has been reported from four placer gold wells in Huanan County, Heilongjiang Province of north-east China. Most of the pollen and megafossil plants are in common. Families Fagaceae, Betulaceae and Pinaceae are abundant in this fossil flora which probably implies a mixed conifer and deciduous broad-leaved forest of warm temperate climate. On the basis of associated vertebrate fossils and correlation with equivalent floras a Late Miocene age has been assigned.