As a common vegetation in mountainous and arid regions of China, shrublands are adapted to a wide range of ecological conditions and have important and diverse ecological functions. The shrub resources formed and maintained by shrublands provide considerable economic and ecological value for the human society. Shrubs cover an area of approximately 90.6 million hm² in China, accounting for 9.4% of the country's total land area. The shrub resources are important not only for their ecological value, but also as economic plants, as feed and for scenic and recreational use. This paper discusses and analyzes the various values. However, different authorities in charge of natural resources, ecology and environment, and national economy classify shrublands as forests or grasslands, which fails to highlight their importance. In this paper, the CiteSpace software was used to analyze the 1997 papers published in CNKI Peking University Core from 2007 to 2023, to sort out the studies conducted in the field of shrub resources, and analyze the context and concern trend in the field. A clear consensus on the concept and connotation of shrub resources has not been reached in the scientific community. On the basis of differentiating the related concepts of shrub resources, this paper compared and analyzed the definition and connotation of shrub resources in contrast to similar forest resources and grassland resources. A clearer boundary and definition of scrub resources were discussed and proposed. The zoning and classification system based on the shrub resource attributes has not been established. The scope, speed, and ecological impact of rapid turning of grasslands into shrublands have not been clearly understood. Therefore, it severely hampers the efficient protection, scientific management, and sustainable utilization of the shrub resources. Questions about shrub resources have become a theoretical and technological issue, as well as a challenge in practice, which should be addressed with consensus and in-depth studies. In the future, it is necessary to clearly define the concept and connotation of shrub resources and establish a classification system. It is also expected to understand the changes of shrublands in different regions, especially the process and the drivers of shrub encroachment which have been witnessed in grasslands, based on the development of multi-base remote sensing and artificial intelligence identification of the shrub vegetation. The purpose is to evaluate comprehensively and systematically the ecological impact and the gains and losses of shrub encroachment, so as to put forward strategies to optimize the management and utilization of shrublands by zoning and classification, and to promote the sustainable protection, management and utilization of shrub resources.