Abstract: To accelerate the standardization and improve the capability of oil spill responses in China, this paper reviews the current standards at home and abroad for oil spill responses, and especially makes a comparative analysis on such technical standards in China and those developed by the American Society for Testing Materials (ASTM) in aspects of emergency management, oil spill prediction, monitoring and containment, testing and selection of performances of oil-recovery facilities, materials and chemical agents for oil recovery, safety in oil-spill responses and others. Research results show that serious insufficiency exists in the Chinese technical standards for oil spill responses. Some standards contain inadequate information for testing and application of relevant materials. Defects and future development of Chinese standards are pointed out. As proposed, more researches are required for performances and application of materials in China, so as to accelerate stipulation and modification of standards for oil spill responses and further improve the existing system of oil spill response standards.