Trace fossils play a very important role in palaeontological study, and attract great attention from many researchers. Ichnological study went through three stages of abecedarian (1929~1978), systematic (1978~2004), and innovating (2004~now) stages in China. In this paper, we summarizes the main achievements and progresses of ichnological study in China during the innovating stage and provides an outlook on the future development of ichnology.Results: During the innovating stage, four aspects of achievements and progresses of ichnological research are summarized as follows: ① the coevolution between environment and organism; ② special trace fossils; ③ the application of new techniques and methods; ④ neoichnology. Moreover, based on the systematical regression and summary of the recent ichnological study in China, we propose that the future frontiers in ichnology may include: experimental ichnology, geobiological study of trace fossils, new theory of ichnology, terrestrial ichnology, and applications of big data and artificial intelligence.Conclusions: With the further research of trace fossils, ichnology can get more attention, and will certainly play a more significant role in palaeontology and palaeoenvironment.