Boron carbide (B4C) has excellent high-temperature oxidation resistance, high hardness, low relative density, high melting point and excellent abrasive resistance, which is widely used in fields such as refractories, wear-resistant materials and lightweight protective materials. The research progress and application of B4C materials in China and overseas in recent years were summarized. The influences of sintering processes (pressureless sintering, hot-pressing sintering, hot isostatic pressing sintering, spark plasma sintering and microwave sintering) and sintering additives (simple substances, oxides and carbides) on the B4C densification were analyzed. The development of B4C materials was prospected.