Abstract: Exploration and utilization of nephrite have a very long history.Nephrite has played a very important role in ancientjade- wares and has been paid attention to in China.Basic stud- ies on nephrite have been developing quickly.The modern advanced testing instruments are used.The internal factors influencing the quality of nephrite are newly explored based on the composition,texture and structure.New nephrite deposits are found and utilized.The oversea geologists have also taken great interest in the study on nephrite.They have studied its abnor- mal toughness,colour,texture defects,texture characteristics and origin.Although there are many developments on nephrite research,there are still many problems,such as insufficient study on nephrite deposit,unclear mechanism of its formation and unscientific identification and assessment.The new tendency in the study on nephrite is thatthe research will be made to solve above problems on the basis of modern geo- science theories and techniques.