Major research results achieved in China during the past recent years were systematically reviewed and summarized from four aspects, including main analysis methods and main evolution laws of river runoff, main attribution methods and main attribution analysis of river runoff, case study analysis, as well as the regional distribution characteristics of the main runoff evolution laws and runoff attribution analysis in China. The results show that the Mann-Kendall non-parametric trend test method is a commonly used method for analyzing runoff evolution law. Hydrological modeling method, statistical analysis method, and the coupled energy-water balance equation based on Budyko hypothesis are commonly applied methods for attribution analysis of runoff changes, among which the coupled energy-water balance equation based on Budyko hypothesis is widely employed. Except for the rivers in the northwest regions and southwestern rivers showing an increasing trend, the runoff of major rivers in other regions of China is decreasing. Human activities are the main cause of runoff variations for major rivers in China.