Objective The aim was to study the genomic characteristics, virulence islands and genetic diversity of foodborne Listeria monocytogenes strains in Zhaoqing. Methods The whole-genome sequencing was carried out on 13 foodborne Listeria monocytogenes strains in Zhaoqing, and the assembled contings/Scaffolds were uploaded to the online analysis platforms Center for Genomic Epidemiology, Rast and VFanalyzer for genome annotation and virulence factor gene identification, while the genetic evolution of 25 domestic and foreign foodborne Listeria monocytogenes isolated strains obtained from National Center for Biotechnology Information(NCBI) were analyzed by whole genome-based single-nucleotide polymorphisms (wg-SNPs) method. Results The genome sizes of 13 foodborne Listeria monocytogenes strains ranged from 2.82-3.04 Mb, and the CG content ranged from 37.9%-38.1%. The isolates could be divided into 6 ST types (ST1, ST3, ST8, ST59, ST87, ST101), corresponding to 6 clonal complex groups (CC1, CC3, CC8, CC59, CC87, CC101). Among them, all the ST3 strains carried LIPI-3 virulence island gene, and all the ST87 strains carried complete LIPI-4 virulence island gene. The genetic evolution analysis of wg-SNPs showed that these 13 foodborne Listeria monocytogenes strains could be divided into two evolutionary branches, among which ST3 strains were located at the root of the evolutionary tree, differing from other ST strains in evolution. Conclusion The predominant foodborne Listeria monocytogenes strains in Zhaoqing were ST87 and ST3 strains with high virulence, which were the same as those in other parts of China. It was found that a ST87 strain carrying both LIPI-1 and LIPI-4 virulence island genes. The risk that the two ST-type virulent strains might cause infectious outbreaks in local area called for alarm and intensified monitoring.