Abstract: At present， there is an excessive hardening phenomenon in river regulation works in China. It is urgent to develop ecological revetment technologies to meet the requirement of ecological protection， sustainable utilization of resources and project safety. Compared with traditional bank protection works， the ecological revetments have not only the general functions， such as flood discharge， drainage， soil and water conservation， but also advantages of nice city landscape， ecology and culture， which realizes the harmonious coexistence between man and nature. Considering the basic definition of the ecological revetment， research progress and drawbacks of the ecological revetment for the medium and small rivers are summarized in this study. It points out that the construction of ecological revetment mainly focuses on the following aspects： the combination with traditional bank protection technology， application of geo-synthetics， new substrate development for vegetation growth and construction mode innovation. In view of the shortage of the ecological revetment technology at the present stage， concerning failure mechanism and durability， and quantitative evaluation on ecological restoration effects, etc.， several common crucial problems are put forward， and main research directions in the future are proposed.