Three Legionella-like strains, designed km488(T), km489 and km521, were isolated from freshwater samples in China. Cells were Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped and non-spore-forming. Growth was observed on BCYE alpha agar, but not on BCYE alpha agar without L-cysteine, chocolate agar with PolyViteX or Columbia blood agar. The major fatty acids (>5 %) of strains km488(T), km489 and km521 were C-16(:0) , anteiso-C-15:0 , iso-C-16(:0) and anteiso-C-17:0. The mip gene sequences (574 nt) showed the isolates were almost identical with more than 99.7 % sequence similarities, and closely matched to L. gormanii ATCC 33297(T) with 95.4-95.6 % sequence similarities. Phylogenetic analyses based on concatenated gene (16S rRNA, mip, rpoB and mpB) sequences indicated that the isolates formed a distinct cluster along with L. gormanii within the genus Legionella. Matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization time-of-flight analyses also demonstrated a clear separation between the isolates and other closely and distantly related Legionella species. DNA-DNA hybridization studies demonstrated that the isolates were closely related (92.0-95.0 % DNA-DNA relatedness) but differentiated from their phylogenetic neighbours (<70 % DNA-DNA relatedness). The whole genome of km488 T was sequenced, and showed a G+C content of 37.8 mol%. Based on the findings from this polyphasic taxonomic study, the isolates are considered to represent a single novel species, for which the name Legionella qingyii sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is km488(T) (KCTC 15636(T) =CCTCC AB 2018025(T) =NRBC 113223(T)).