As one of the cradles of international geographical indication and appellations of origin,France,after 100 years of development in geographical indication legislation,has established perfect,reasonable and effective legal system in protection of trademarks and appellations of origin,which is followed by European countries,especially by countries in southern Europe.Based on historical evolution and basic content of legal protection system of geographical indication in France,this paper compares the differences about the legal protection of geographical indication between China and France in such aspects as current system,resource conditions and historical elements,this paper proposes several suggestions on how to strengthen and perfect the protection of China’s geographical indication:choose specialized legislation,establish and perfect geographical indication associations,specify the duties of administrative organs and avoid universalization of geographical indication.