Highly cited papers were retrieved from fifteen core journals included in the China Academic Journals fulltext database. The goal of this research is to find the research trends in cultural relic conservation technology and to explore research focuses in this area in China. Using parameters such as funding sources, publication time, key words and authors’ employers, I did a quantitative analysis using statistical and bibliometrics methods. From this analysis, I concluded that much research focuses on aspects of the cultural relic materials and craftsmanship, cultural relic degradation mechanisms and conservation methods, cultural relic conservation environments, cultural relic conservation material research, archaeological science and technology research and applications of Internet technology.