Abstract: The research status of river-leader system in China is investigated by CiteSpace tool of bibliometrics.Research data comes from 500 papers indexed by CNKI from 2009 to 2017.The distribution of research time, author’s location,periodical location,research area, and author’s institution are analyzed in detail, and the research hotspot and trend are expounded. Visualization results imply that the research of river-leader system in China is still in its infancy, with a small number of literature and inadequate academic level. The research content focuses on theoretical review and policy interpretation rather than quantitative research; scientific research institutions in water conservancy sector instead of higher educations are major contributors; in terms of research trend, the number of research literature will witness a steady growth due to the promotion of river-leader system nationwide and the implementation of “one strategy for one river” policy. The research results are expected to offer reference for researchers in this regard.

Key words: river-leader system, mapping knowledge domain, bibliometrics, CiteSpace, one strategy for one river, visualization