Since the late 1990’s, totally nine geochemical reference sediment materials for the China Sea and the continental shelf were prepared, which were collected from the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea. In this paper, a brief introduction to the background and general situation on the preparation of these reference materials is presented, with the emphasis placed on the characteristics of these reference materials and, especially, the application of the reference materials for the marine geological survey and research and their significance for the development of advanced geo-analytical techniques.