Abstract: The concept of water footprint broadens the evaluation system and theoretical connotation of water resources, providing a new ideas for the field of water resources research.In order to display the progress, hotspots and future trends of water footprint research in China from an overall and global perspective, this paper used CiteSpace 5.8.R3 to visually analyze the papers from core journals and CSSCI journals in the field of China's water footprint research, included in CNKI from 2003 to 2021,systematically sorted out the research context of China's water footprint, summarized the current research hotspots and put forward research prospects.The results show that:(1) The number of research papers on water footprint in China shows a fluctuating upward trend from 2003 to 2021.(2) The concentration of authors in the water footprint research is high, and the core authors make a great contribution to related research.The degree of external cooperation between research institutions is low, and the interdisciplinary nature needs to be improved.(3) Water footprint, virtual water, water resources, ecological footprint, carbon footprint, grey water footprint and blue water are the hot keywords in China's water footprint research field.(4) The field of water footprint mainly focuses on five research topics: water footprint, virtual water, water resources, ecological footprint and blue water.Finally, based on the analysis results, some policy suggestions are put forward, such as strengthening the cooperation between main authors and research institutions, and promoting the development of interdisciplinary integration.The research results can provide reference for further research on China's water footprint.