Abstract: Lists the commonly used magnesium alloy brand and its corresponding ingredients，starting from its properties，introduces the application feature of different alloys. Towards the insufficient performance of magnesium alloy commonly used at present，mainly based on surface technology strengthening and rare-earth adding strengthening，summarizes the latest progress of magnesium alloy strengthening. In accordance with the processing method，it can be divided into casting and deformation. From three aspects which are casting，jointing，deformation，introduces the new technology in magnesium alloy processing domain，meanwhile，summarizes the application of magnesium alloy in automobile，3C and medicine.

Key words: magnesium alloy, rare-earth strengthening, surface technology strengthening, processing technology