Intensification of Chinese research about sustainable development these last twenty years is reflected in the nature of peer-reviewed published output, analysis of which has been undertaken using the 1992-2008 record in the core Journal in CNKI. Statistical analysis shows that, apart from changes in the adoption and diffusion of research methods and its affect on the relative significance of enquiry types (social-economic, ecological, systematic and technical), the study shows that, primarily, fields involving quantitative study are expanding. Secondly, the range of approaches and techniques deployed has become wider. Notably, the role of modeling has become augmented, even to the point of over-emphasis. Thirdly, evaluation of regional sustainable development receives progressively increased attention, at the expense of other evaluative studies. It is clear that multi-scale studies and dynamic time-series studies are typically comprehensive, and projects based on spatio-temporal analysis are in more demand than supply. In prospect is progress with integration of system science, complexity theory and spatial information technology. Accordingly, research output in the service of decision support for sustainable regional development is expected to offer even more than before.