To evaluate the seismic performance of Q690D steel box-section frame columns， based on a low-cycle horizontal reciprocating loading test on three welded box-section steel columns， the finite element modeling method verified by the test results was used to establish 30 FE models with different width-to-thickness ratios under four seismic grades. The seismic performance was analyzed from the aspects of the hysteretic response， skeleton curve， ductility coefficient， and the development of cross-section plasticity. The results show that the ductility coefficient of the Q690D steel box-section frame column is small， which is between 1.68 and 2.55. When the axial compression ratio is large， the ultimate inter-story drift angle is less than 0.02， which does not meet the required limit value of 1/50 of elastic-plastic drift angle in GB 50011―2010 Code for Seismic Design of Buildings. So， it is recommended that the limit value of the axial compression ratio should not exceed 0.5 in seismic design for high-strength steel structures. The plastic development coefficient and component ductility decrease with the increase of width-to-thickness ratio and axial compression ratio. It is unreasonable that the seismic code only uses the width-to-thickness ratio as the only factor to distinguish the seismic grade， and the influence of the axial compression ratio on seismic performance needs to be considered.