A Gram-stain positive, aerobic, non-motile and rod-shaped actinobacterial strain, designated as ZYR 51(T), was isolated from pharmaceutical wastewater in Jinhua city, Zhejiang province, Eastern China. Isolation was aided by using a resuscitation-promoting factor, suggesting the strain was recovered from a viable but non-culturable state. Strain ZYR 51(T) was characterized by a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Growth was found to occur at 10-45 °C, pH 6.0-10.0 and 0-9 % NaCl (w/v). Based on the 16S rRNA gene sequence, phylogenetic analysis clearly demonstrated that strain ZYR 51(T) belongs to the genus Gordonia and showed low level similarities (below 97 %) with all other members of this genus. The strain was found to possess meso-diaminopimelic acid (meso-DAP), along with MK-9(H2) as the predominant menaquonine. Mycolic acids were found to be present. C16:0 (34.9 %), 10-methyl C18:0 (30.3 %), iso-C18:0(8.2 %), and summed feature 3 (C16:1 ω6c and/or C16:1ω7c as define by MIDI; 18.8 %) were identified as the major cellular fatty acids. The polar lipid profile of strain ZYR 51(T) was found to consist of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannosides and some unknown lipids. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain ZYR 51(T) was determined to be 67.7 mol%. The combined genotypic and phenotypic data showed that the strain represents a novel species of the genus Gordonia, for which the name Gordonia jinhuaensis sp. nov. is proposed, with the type strain is ZYR 51(T) (=CGMCC 1.12827(T) = NBRL B-59111(T) = NBRC 110001(T)).