China's scientific research and development sector are currently the second largest in the world, and laboratory animals are widely used across a range of research fields. As China's biomedical and pharmaceutical industry has grown, a laboratory animal science community has developed which now has its own specialist professional society-The Chinese Association for Laboratory Animal Sciences (CALAS). The importance of animal welfare is increasingly acknowledged in China and the value of, and need to provide, environmental enrichment is being recognized by more and more scientists. This article introduces the current understanding about and use of environmental enrichment for laboratory animals in China, and discussed the possible routes to develop environmental enrichment for laboratory animals in China.