In this study, the effect of injection timing on combustion characteristics of a direct injection, electronically controlled, high pressure, common rail, turbocharged and intercooled engine fuelled with different pistacia chinensis bunge seed biodiesel/diesel blends has been experimentally investigated. The results indicated that brake specific fuel consumption reduces with the increasing of fuel injection advance angle and enhances with the increasing of biodiesel content in the blends. The peak of cylinder pressure and maximum combustion temperature increase evidently with the increment of fuel injection advance angle. However, the combustion of biodiesel blends starts earlier than diesel at the same fuel injection advance angle. At both conditions, the combustion duration and the peak of heat release rate are insensitive to the changing of injection timing.