As an important small grain crop in Shanxi province，red kidney bean is generally affected by problems such as low nodulation rate，yield，and quality. Inoculating rhizobia is an effective way to solve these problems. In this study，the red kidney bean cultivar‘British Red’was subjected to an inoculation experiment using 10 strains of rhizobia isolated from the root nodules of red kidney bean plants，in which 11 treatments were arranged. The results showed that the rhizobia isolated from the root nodules of red kidney beans in the main sowing area of Xinzhou city of Shanxi province belonged to Rhizobium indicum and Rhizobium etli，among which the Rhizobium indicum isolate RH64 showed the highest nitrogenase activity and produced the highest content of extracellular polysaccharide，reaching 253.22 U·L-1 and 415.43 mg·L-1，respectively. The isolate RH130 had the strongest ability to secrete indoleacetic acid(IAA) that reached 40.12 mg·L-1，while the isolate RH102 had the strongest ability of organic and inorganic phosphorus solubilizing capability that were recorded as 166.84 and 4.12 mg·L-1，respectively. The results of pot experiment showed that inoculation with isolated rhizobia significantly promoted the growth and nodulation ability of red kidney bean. Compared with the control，the height，fresh weight of aboveground part and nodulation number of red kidney bean plants inoculated with rhizobia were increased significantly by 2.22%-20.23%，34.92%-138.00% and 26-173(P<0.05)，respectively. Among them，RH64 performed the best and was significantly better than other isolates. In correlation analysis，a significant positive correlation was found of rhizobia nitrogenase activity and extracellular polysaccharide content and nodulation，while IAA production and phosphorus solubilization by rhizobia significantly promoted the growth and root development of red kidney bean plants. Among the 10 strains of rhizobia screened from Xinzhou of Shanxi province，RH64 had strong nodulation and growth promoting abilities，and was highly compatible with the main red kidney bean cultivar of the region，making it suitable for red kidney bean production in the Xinzhou area of Shanxi province.