Abstract: As a new type of high performance liquid chromatographic technology, ion chromatography (IC) was initially mainly used to determine the content of anions and cations in samples. Ion chromatography has the advantages of simple operation, high sensitivity and good selectivity. In recent years, ion chromatography has been widely used in energy, environment, geology, food, medicine and other fields. The recent research progress of ion chromatography in traditional Chinese medicines such as metal ions, inorganic anions, organic acids, sugars were summarized in order to provide a reference for the study of ion chromatography in the analysis of chemical components of traditional Chinese medicine.