Abstract: This paper systematically summaries the main work and results of China’s marine geological and petroleum exploration since the founding of the Peo- ple’s Republic of China. In the middle and late parts of the 1950’s, China’s marine geological work was only restricted within the limits of the coastal 1ines. At the end of the 1970’s, comprehensive and geophysical surveys at different scales were carried out in a sea area of 150 sq km of the conti- nental shelf of China. Since 1979, a Sino-U. S. bilateral joint marine geological survey has been carried out in the South China Sea and the East China Sea. In 1983, comprehensive surveying and manganese nodule investigations were completed in a certain area of the Northwestern Pacific Ocean. All this indicates that China’s marine geological surveys and scientific researches have- attained a relatively bigh level, and are advancing towards a new stage.