The research on regional innovation system has been introduced into China for almost 20 years, and has been favored by academic circles during this period. The key literatures on CNKI on the topic of "regional innovation system" are analyzed by using high frequency keywords and knowledge maps. The study found that China's regional innovation system research focuses on improving regional innovation ability and innovation efficiency, and it mainly focused on the evaluation index system construction, evaluation method, evaluation results and its influencing factors. Finally, the shortcomings and future prospects of regional innovation system research in China are pointed out.