Although the reaction of plants to various stresses can be regulated by phthalanilic acid (PPA), the regulation mechanism in the cold resistance of common beans was still unclear. The study showed that the ABA content of common bean seedlings was significantly increased by PPA application under low-temperature stress, the growth of common bean seedlings was effectively protected, and the yield loss was reduced. Importantly, the regulation of PPA on cold resistance of common bean seedlings depended on ABA pathway. It was further revealed that the ABA receptor pathway was observably activated by knocking down the ABA catabolic gene CYP707As, and the cold resistance of common bean seedlings was considerably enhanced. At the same time, the regulation of PPA on the low-temperature resistance of common bean seedlings was visibly weakened, which was also proved by gene over-expression and virus induced gene silence of CYP707As. In addition, combining exogenous treatment of ABA biosynthesis inhibitor (fluridone) with endogenous gene knock-down, over-expression and virus induced gene silence of phospholipase D coding gene (PLD1), it was found that PPA could obviously enhance cold resistance of common bean seedlings by promoting phospholipase D to produce phosphatidic acid, increasing the antioxidant enzyme activity to reduce oxidative damage and improve the stability of the photosynthetic system. In summary, the molecular and physiological basis was firstly elucidated that phthalanilic acid enhanced cold resistance of common bean seedlings by phospholipid metabolism, photosynthetic system, and antioxidant status through the ABA pathway in the present study.