Abstract: Chinese sturgeon, as a species under first grade national protection, is a large-type migratory fish, which only propagates in Yangtze River at present and the first-important protection animal in the river. By referring to the study achievements at home and abroad in recent years, the growth and propagation state of Chinese sturgeon in Yangtze River are studied and it is discovered that the number of Chinese sturgeon broodstocks entering the Yangtze River for propagation is only about one hundred; from 2013 to 2015, natural propagation of Chinese sturgeon were not observed in the downstream propagation field of Gezhouba Hydro-project, so Chinese sturgeon faces survival crisis. In the recent 20 years, to effectively protect Chinese sturgeon, Chinese researchers carried out a great deal of research work in the aspects of hydrological condition of Chinese sturgeon natural propagation and the characteristics of habitat, natural propagation monitoring, artificial propagation and juvenile rearing, propagation and release and release effect assessment, molecular ecology etc. and basically breaks through the bottleneck of Chinese sturgeon protection. Based on the study achievements, this paper indicates the main study direction of Chinese sturgeon protection.