【Objective】The present experiment was conducted to screen high quality and drought tolerant sugarcane varieties suitable for planting in arid areas of mid and south regions in Guangxi. 【Method】The agronomic traits， leaf water potential， malondialdehyde content， proline content， relative membrane permeability， peroxidase activity and quality characteristics of 6 new sugarcane varieties （lines）， viz.， Guitang 00/122， Taiwan 04/32， Liucheng 06/241， Liucheng 03/1137， Liucheng 03/182， were determined and compared with the control sugarcane variety ROC22. 【Result】The variety Guitang 00/122 recorded high rate of seedling emergence and tillering ability. However， the variety Liucheng 03/1137 recorded the highest plant height and stalk diameter compared to the other varieties. The varieties Guitang 00/122， Liucheng 03/1137 and Liucheng 03/182 showed relatively higher sucrose content， gravity purity and fiber content of juice， lower reducing sugars in stalks. 【Conclusion】The varieties Liucheng 03/182， Guitang 00/122 and Liucheng 03/1137 performed very well with higher sucrose content and gravity purity， and lower reducing sugars， and may be extended as early maturing high sugar varieties. Among these three varieties， Liucheng 03/1137 showed better comprehensive traits and strong resistance to drought stress， and was suitable for planting in arid areas of middle and south regions in Guangxi.