Abstract: This paper discussed the research status of acid catalyzed hydrolysis of biomass to levulinic acid (LA) with three aspects i.e. sources of raw materials, processes and reactors, and catalytic mechanism. Especially in the field of catalytic mechanism, it gradually analyzed the mechanism of LA production from cellulose to sugars, sugars to 5-hydroxymethylfurfural(5-HMF), and 5-HMF to LA, and the mechanism of LA production directly from glucose, as well as the demonstration of the kinetics of LA production from microcrystalline cellulose under dilute hydrochloric acid and dilute sulfuric acid environments, followed by the kinetics and mechanism analysis of degradation of typical biomass in the dilute acid. This paper aims to provide sufficient information for relative scholars to carry out researches on LA production from biomass, and help scholars to conduct selective research.