Abstract: OBJECTIVE To analyze the present situation of the research on drug shortage in China based on the literature, the reasons and characteristics of drug shortage were described, so as to provide reference for improving the countermeasures of drug shortage in China. METHODS Chinese literatures related to drug shortage in China from 1989 to June 2021 were retrieved from CNKI, Wanfang database and VIP database. The visualized analysis software CiteSpace was used to statistically analyze the publication time, authors, research institutions and keywords of the obtained literatures, as well as the reasons for drug shortage. RESULTS A total of 400 articles were selected. The number of research documents on drug shortage in China had shown an obvious trend of growth since 2011, but the cooperative network between authors and research institutions was scattered, and the research teams were mainly universities and study institutes. Keywords “drug supply chain” “national essential medicine” and “drug price” were the research focus in the field of drug shortage, “monitoring and early warning” was the new trend in the field of drug shortage. CONCLUSION The systematic research on drug shortage in China need to be improved. Existing research literatures indicate that the production link in the supply chain is the main link causing drug shortage in China, drug price is an important factor, and national essential drugs account for a relatively high proportion in shortage drugs. These problems need to be paid attention and deserve further study.