Abstract: Coastal wetlands are among the most productive and biodiverse ecosystems on the earth. However, they have been seriously degraded or even lost due to intensive anthropogenic activities. The degradation of coastal wetlands is a worldwide common issue and the ecological restoration of coastal wetlands has become a global hotspot for ecologists. Based on the current knowledge at home and abroad, this paper overviews the progress in ecological restoration of coastal wetlands, focusing on key issues including ecosystem degradation diagnosis, restoration goal, restoration measures, monitoring and effectiveness evaluation of the restoration. The degradation diagnosis of coastal wetlands is generally based on the comparison of a targeted ecosystem or a reference ecosystem, which can be the predisturbed status, adjacent undisturbed or slightly disturbed ecosystem, or a hypothetical ecosystem derived from multiinformation. The ultimate goal of ecological restoration is to establish a selfsustainable and selfregulatory ecosystem with or without limited artificial intervention, rather than to simply restore the structure and function of ecosystem. Ecological restoration includes natural restoration, artificial restoration and ecological reconstruction, while artificial restoration or ecological reconstruction should only be considered when natural restoration can not be achieved. Monitoring of an ecological restoration should cover the structure and functions of the ecosystem, and it should be carried out before, during and after activities undertaken. Recovery of ecosystem structure, ecosystem functions and services should also be taken into account to evaluate the effectiveness of an ecological restoration project. In China, mechanisms on the ecosystem degradation and restoration of coastal wetlands are not adequately recognized. The technologies and methods are not soundly developed to be applicable for the ecological restoration. The spatial scale is usually small and in lack of systematicity and the integrity of the space and there is also a lack of comprehensive planning on national or regional scale. The postrestoration management, monitoring and success evaluation of ecological restorations should also be enhanced. Therefore, we suppose the following considerations to promote the future ecological restoration in China: ① to pay attention to the fundamental researches of restoration ecology of coastal wetlands. ② to highlight the systematicity, comprehensiveness and integrity of coastal wetland restoration, and promote overall planning, regional coordination and systematic restoration. ③ to facilitate researches and developments of restoration technologies, such as restoration and improvement technologies of ecosystem functions of mangrove wetlands, artificial reproduction, nursery and planting technologies of seagrass and salt marsh plants, and coral sexual reproduction and reef functional restoration technologies. ④ to pay more attention to the management measures and public participation in coastal wetland ecological restoration.