We analyzed the 2023 funding schemes managed by the Division of Geochemistry (application code: D03), Department of Earth Sciences, National Natural Science Foundation of China, with the goal of understanding the challenges faced by the foundation and finding solutions. Data from the past five years related to the number and type of applications, rate of acceptance, peer review process, and funding status were included in our analysis. The summarized results show that: ① the total number of applications received by the Division of Geochemistry has decreased by 5.1% compared with the number received in 2022; ② in terms of research field, the group of applications coded as “surface geochemistry” was the fastest growing group, entering the top three codes in the Division of Geochemistry; and ③ the applicants and principals of projects in the Division of Geochemistry are all more than one year younger than the average age of all applicants under the Department of Earth Sciences. Overall, the Division of Geochemistry faces the challenges of small quantity of projects and slow growth; however, it has the advantage of relatively young research teams. To strengthen future development in the field of applied geochemical research, continued support of basic research (including theoretical and methodological studies) is needed on theories and methods. The research advances presented in project reports completed in 2023 are also discussed.