Abstract: This paper presents a quantitative and qualitative analysis of the status quo of diplomatic language(DL)studies in China, by reviewing 390 articles on DL studies, which are grouped into eight subcategories, over the past three decades or so(1990-2016). The results show that researchers in China are moving forward in this academic domain in terms of research width and depth: such three subcategories of DL studies as “pragmatic phenomenon”, “translation strategies” and “interpretation” come to the top three in the light of percentage contribution of journal articles; studies on “Atypical” DL have already been started. Besides, through generally analyzing the research themes involved in the eight subcategories of DL and selectively reviewing their respective research findings, the paper points out some problems in China's DL studies, and conducts a reflection on the research status quo and puts forward some tentative suggestions, for the purpose of contributing to the development of China's DL studies and diplomacy.