This invention relates to a method for the production of D-(-)-3-hydroxybutyric acid, comprising the step of culturing a recombinant strain containing genes phbA, phbB, ptb and buk by fermentation. Preferably, the recombinant strain is a strain of E. coli. The method of the invention is simple, avoiding the technique of degrading polymer to produce D-(-)-3-hydroxybutyric acid. The present method also provides improved efficiency, lowers the complicated requirement for facilities as used in traditional chemical synthesis, simplifies the complicated technique flow, and omits the complicated chiral separation step. Therefore, the present method greatly reduces the costs associated with D-(-)-3-hydroxybutyric acid production. Also, with this invention, the problems such as environmental pollution of chemical synthesis and chiral separation are overcome.