Abstract: Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST) is the most common mesenchymal tumor of the gastrointestinal tract. Twenty years ago, tyrosine kinase inhibitors targeting KIT/platelet-derived growth factor receptor α were applied to GIST treatment and achieved great success. Therefore, this rare tumor has attracted great attention of clinicians and researchers. After 20 years of exploration and practice, great progress has been made in the clinical diagnosis and research level of GIST in China. In terms of clinical diagnosis and treatment, the pathological diagnosis system has been established and deepened, and the surgical treatment has gradually tended to be standardized, minimally invasive and integrated. More and more targeted drugs continue to challenge the survival limit of GIST patients, and the standardized diagnosis and treatment model has been initially formed and continuously developed. In terms of GIST related researches, drug clinical research from China has experienced the exploration from imitation to innovation, the clinical research related to surgical treatment is undergoing preliminary exploration. The research related to endoscopic treatment has formed a distinctive style with unique Chinese characteristics, and the translational research has also helped solving the clinical problems. In the future, the clinical diagnosis and treatment of GIST in China will be more standardized, minimally invasive, precise, comprehensive and whole process. The research direction in the field of GIST will be to carry out high-quality multi-center clinical research and targeted laboratory researches for clinical focus issues.