A Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, motile, endospore-forming bacterium, designated strain J15A17T, was isolated from sediment of the South China Sea. The strain was oxidase-positive and catalase-negative. Optimal growth occurred at 33 °C, pH 7.5 and in the presence of 3 % (w/v) NaCl. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, the strain showed closest similarity (92.8 %) to Paenibacillus puldeungensis strain CAU 9324T. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that the isolate forms a separate branch within the family Paenibacillaceae, with the genus Cohnella as the most closely related genus. The DNA G+C content of strain J15A17T was 37.4 mol%. The strain contained MK-7 as the sole respiratory quinone; anteiso-C15 : 0 and iso-C16 : 0 were the major cellular fatty acids; and its polar lipid pattern consisted of diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, glycolipid and four unidentified phospholipids. The strain displayed the peptidoglycan type A4α l-Lys-d-Asp in the cell wall. Phylogenetic, physiological, biochemical and morphological differences between strain J15A17T and its closest relatives in the genera Cohnella, Fontibacillus and Paenibacillus suggest that strain J15A17T (=KCTC 33759T=MCCC 1H00137T) represents the type strain of a novel species in a new genus within the family Paenibacillaceae, Chengkuizengella sediminis gen. nov. sp. nov.