Abstract: The development history of heavy plate production in China was sorted out, and the development of heavy plate in China was divided into five stages, i.e, initial stage, accumulation stage, development stage, maturity stage and optimization stage, The characteristics of each stage were analyzed from the aspects of mill specification, equipment level, capacity scale and so on; The technical progress and development of key processes and equipment for heavy plate, such as hot delivery and hot charging, reheating furnace, rolling mill and leveler were described; The development, application and advancement of typical heavy plate products, such as special shipbuilding steel and offshore engineering steel were elucidated; The future development of heavy plate in China was prospected and suggestions were put forward.