As a class of persistent, toxic, and bioaccumulated compounds, the chlorinated paraffins (CPs) can undergo a long-range atmospheric transport and be routinely detected in the various environment matrices. They are applied widely in industries as additives in lubricants and metal-working fluids, as flame retardants in plastics and sealants, and as plasticizers in polyvinyl chloride (PVC). The CPs, especially, the short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs), which are under review by the Stockholm Convention, represent a potential 'new' category of POPs and have attracted the global concern. China is the largest producer and exporter of the CPs, but the environmental studies on the CPs are extremely scarce. The sources, the levels, the distributions, and the fate of the CPs in different environmental media are reviewed in this paper, as well as the research prospect of the CPs in China.