Abstract:National laboratories are not only a national strategic scientific and technological force, but also an essential part of the national innovation system. Further clarifying research hot spots and evolving trends at national laboratories can serve as a reference for the construction of national laboratories, and it is also a major element in improving the work of scientific and technological innovation. In this paper, we obtain literature data on national laboratory research from the CNKI database from 1980 to February 2023, use CiteSpace for visual analysis of overall trends, major research institutions and research topics, as well as for in-depth interpretation in the context of policy. The results show that: (1) From 1980 to 2023, the development process and related research of China national laboratories have obvious stage characteristics; (2) The research hot spots of national laboratories focus on three aspects: the construction mode of national laboratories in developed countries and their experience enlightenment to China, the outputs of national laboratories in developed countries and its application in industry, the construction status of national and provincial laboratories and related countermeasures and suggestions in China; (3) With the growing importance of scientific and technological innovation in overall national development, there will be a nationwide surge in the construction of national laboratories and related research. In the next study, it is necessary to proceed from the point of view of the construction of national laboratories for the service, focusing on learning and summarizing advanced experiences, and conducting in-depth discussions from the top-level design, system construction and organizational systems of laboratory construction.