The interest in micro technologies for application in chemical, biological and thermal systems has increased considerably in China because microreactors or microfluidics in general demonstrate some remarkably advantages such as inherent miniaturization and portability, intensification of heat and mass transfer, quick analysis results, high-throughput and low consumption of reagents. This review focuses on the recent advances in the micro technologies in China including microreactor-based systems for chemical processing and analysis, biological microfluidics for DNA analysis, cell handling and analysis, separation based detection, protein based applications and immunoassays, micro heat transfer and micro power systems, as well as design and manufacturing. A comparison of the research output of China with different countries is made in terms of publications. The weaknesses and bottle necks in these fields of research and development are discussed. It is anticipated that microreactors and microfluidic chips are on the eve of large-scale industrial applications in China. More international collaborations are expected to prompt the progress in both the research and commercialization. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.