The soil erosion model can be used to evaluate the dynamic development of the water and soil resources and develop plans for controlling soil erosion. The model can also be applied to assess the soil loss control practices. According to the purpose of the model and the way that the model is developed, the soil erosion model can be divided into two categories: empirical model and physically-based model. When the scale of model application is considered, soil erosion model can be classified into upland model and watershed model. The purpose of this paper is to review research history leading to development of the soil erosion model, present the limitation of the existing soil erosion models and give a direction of developing soil erosion model in China.