Since 1978 is considered as the first year of China’s reform and opening-up, 2018 is another remarkable year of the 40th anniversary of China’s reform and opening-up. Moreover, 1978 also marks the first year of building the rule of law and the first year of criminal law research. Taking this as a time point, it is of great practical significance to review the 40-year history of Chinese criminal law and forecast its future development. It can be said that the discipline of criminal law has been restored and rebuilt in the context of reform and opening-up, and its fate is closely related to the construction of the country’s criminal law. Therefore, only from the perspective of the general pattern of the country’s legal construction can we describe and outline the development of Chinese criminal law.