China is enriched in rare metal element resources and hosts many unique rare metal granite pegmatite deposits, attracting many pegmatite scholars to investigate the pegmatiteforming mechanism. Over past decades, several mechanisms have been proposed for pegmatite formation ranging from hydrothermal metasomatism in the early JahnsBurnham model to the later magma nonequilibrium crystallization model proposed by London, and the magma liquid immiscibility proposed by Thomas. The research on granite pegmatite in China has inherited the theory of pegmatite by Soviet scientists and has gradually accepted the western pegmatite theory. In China, during the research on the typical pegmatites (eg〖KG-*2〗, the pegmatites in Altai and western Sichuan), granitic pegmatite classification, based on mineral assemblages of mica and feldspar, was proposed. Chinese scholars also built the genetic models of pegmatites, including the fractionation of metamorphic fluid, supermetamorphic melt, and remelted magma, and established mineral typomorphic characteristics to indicate the evolution of highlydifferentiated pegmatite.Their research on the crystalrich inclusions in pegmatites investigated the PT conditions of pegmatite formations.Isotopic dating and tracing technology has provided a clearer picture of temporal and spatial distribution, and material source of pegmatites in China.Future research should focus on mineralogy, oreforming fluids, hightemperature and highpressure experimental research. Analyzing this data will provide an overview of prospects of comprehensive utilization of rare metal elements in pegmatites, investigate the formation mechanism of typical pegmatites, innovate pegmatite diagenesis and mineralization theories, and promote rare metal resources prospecting and utilization progress.