Abstract：Since the late 1990's, totally nine geochemical reference sediment materials for the China Sea and the continental shelf were prepared, which were collected from the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea. These studies were supported by several grants from the Chinese government. Basically, these reference materials form a representative “library” of the China Sea and the continental shelf sediment reference materials. Furthermore, they provide strong technical support for the exploitative survey and study of China's maritime territories and exclusive economic zone. In this paper, a brief introduction to the background and general situation on the preparation of these reference materials is presented, with the emphasis placed on the characteristics of these reference materials and, especially, the application of the reference materials for the marine geological survey and research and their significance for the development of advanced geo-analytical techniques.