Abstract: Against the backdrop of frequent extreme climate events and intensified land and spatial development, geo-hazard prevention and mitigation in China face significant challenges. This paper systematically reviews the development of geo-hazard risk prevention and control in China, analyzes the major challenges currently encountered, proposes an overall research framework, and summarizes recent progress in key research areas. Results Geo-hazard investigations in China have gone through four stages: (1) 1∶100 000-scale reconnaissance, (2) 1∶50 000-scale detailed survey, (3) 1∶50 000-scale risk survey, and (4) 1∶10 000-scale refined survey. These stages have carried out varying degrees of susceptibility, hazard, and risk assessments at the county (city), provincial, and national levels. Based on dynamic surveys and assessments, a geo-hazard monitoring and early warning system has been developed, characterized by regional early warning as the lead, and a combined human and technical monitoring system at individual hazard sites, which supports the transition of geo-hazard management in China to a dual-control system of hazard sites and risk zones. The major challenges at present include: the lack of theoretical and technical support for geo-hazard defense in land and spatial development, unclear mechanisms of interaction between geo-hazards and land use, inconsistency in multi-level geo-hazard susceptibility assessment, absence of quantitative, widely applicable techniques for dynamic risk assessment, and inefficient coordination in geo-hazard meteorological risk early warning systems. To address these challenges, coordinated research efforts have focused on elucidating feedback mechanisms between geo-hazards and land use, leading to progress in multi-level adaptive geo-hazard susceptibility assessment, stochastic slope geo-hazard prediction and risk assessment, multi-scale geo-hazard meteorological risk early warning, resilience assessment of geo-hazard defense in mountainous towns, and community-based geo-hazard risk prevention and coordinated response. These advancements support the development of a national–provincial–municipal–county–township–village–group multi-level linked dynamic geo-hazard risk prevention system. Future work will focus on field validation and application of modeling methodologies and system equipment in typical demonstration areas, providing technical support for the improvement of China’s dynamic geo-hazard assessment and risk prevention system.