Abstract: Attapulgite is an important non−metallic mineral in China. Over the past 50 years, remarkable progress has been made in the application research and industrial development of attapulgite in China, the number of attapulgite patent applications in China has shown a trend of first increasing and then stabilizing, and China has become the world's largest intellectual property cluster for attapulgite. The upstream of the industrial chain is driven by basic research, while the downstream application is characterized by enterprise leadership. Based on the PatSnap patent database, this paper focuses on analyzing the current status of attapulgite patent applications, applicants and the characteristics of technological development in China. Considering the current state of industrial development, it is recommended to target the cutting−edge technology track, focus on cultivating high−value patents, and promote to the high−quality development of the attapulgite industry.