The myocyte enhancer factor 2C (MEF2C) is atranscription factor that play a pivotal role in the muscle development.In this study, we aimed to detect variations of the MEF2C gene in 575 individuals representing two Chinese cattle breeds by sequencing pooled DNA samples (Pool-Seq) and forced polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (Forced PCR-RFLP) methods, and to analyze their effects on growth traits.A total of four novel SNPs were identified and they were all located non-coding region.We also investigated haplotype frequencies and linkage disequilibrium coefficients for four SNPs in all study populations.There were seven haplotypes inferred and the linkage disequilibrium was assessed in the two cattle breeds.The association analysis indicated that the C allele of SNP 1 locus and the combined genotype H1H6 (or H3H5) (TC-CT-GG-AA) showed a significant effect on growth traits such as body height (BH), height at hip cross (HHC) and rump length (RL) in Qinchuan cattle (P<0.05).These data reveal that variations and haplotypes within the MEF2C gene are associated with growth traits, and may be considered as molecular markers for economic traits in beef cattle breeding program.