Carbon emission reduction in the iron and steel industry is the focus of China's efforts to achieve the goals of "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality", and the development on direct reduction technology of gas-based shaft furnace is of great significance to realize the low-carbon transformation of China's iron and steel industry. The direct reduction process of typical gas-based shaft furnace and its technical characteristics, such as Midrex, HYL-III and Energiron-ZR, are introduced, the current development status on direct reduction of gas-based shaft furnace in China is summarized, the development direction on direct reduction process of the gas-based shaft furnace is prospected, and in order to provide reference for the development of low-carbon metallurgical technology in China's iron and steel industry, some suggestions are put forward to improve the production capacity of the shaft furnace, ensure the long-term operation of the shaft furnace, and carry out the research of all-hydrogen direct reduction shaft furnace.