Quality control is one of bottleneck problem limiting the applications and development of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs). In recent years, the research on TCMs has already made a great progress. In this review, the background of quality control is discussed from the requirement of TCMs industry, modernization of TCMs, the requirement of techniques as well as opportunities and challenges in the quality control of TCMs. The significance of quality control to improve the efficiency and safety of TCMs, to promote the development of TCMs industry and the globalization of TCMs are also discussed. The status quo of quality control is reviewed, in which the drawbacks of process control, safety control, the preparation of reference compounds and fingerprint in quality control of TCMs were analyzed. In addition, the technological prospects based on modern separation techniques and detection methods for the quality control of TCMs are put forward, including the key techniques of the quality control, the techniques of safety control, the standard systems of the quality control, the innovative techniques, the techniques for the preparation of reference compounds, the establishment of technique standards, etc.