Abstract—The high yield ratio of high-strength steel limits its application in the seismic design of members. China HBIS Group has developed a new kind of low yield ratio steel Q620E to address this problem. The seismic performance test has been conducted on box-section columns made of such steel, and specimens with different cross-sectional dimensions were designed and subjected to low cyclic loading test under axial pressure. The seismic performance of the specimens was analyzed in terms of bearing capacity, energy consumption and damage development by observing the damage mode, extracting hysteresis curve and skeleton curve. The test results were compared with Q690D high-strength steel box-section columns. It shows that the low yield ratio high-strength steel box-section columns have good hysteresis performance and plastic deformation capacity; the larger the width to thickness ratio of the plate is, the more discontinuous the damage development is. This type of low yield ratio steel shows greater advantages than Q690D high-strength steel in mechanical properties and seismic design of members. It may be considered for extended applications in steel frame building.