Abstract: Chlorinated paraffins (CPs) are synthetic chemicals, widely used as flame retardants and plasticizers. CPs can be released into various environmental media, such as water, sediment, dust, air, and soil. Short-chain CPs (SCCPs). were officially listed in Annex A of the Stockholm Convention as new persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in 2017, and medium-chain CPs (MCCPs) were included POPs candidates by the Convention due to their persistence, bioaccumulations, long range atmospheric transport and adverse effects on ecosystem and organisms. As the major global producer and consumer of CPs, China is facing a huge environmental burden from these compounds. There is a great demand for CPs control and risk assessment, however, there are still many defects in basic research in this field. Based on the in-depth discussion of published related studies, this study estimates the emission of CPs to the environment through production and use, sorts out the occurrence of CPs in different environmental media, and looks forward the possible gap between the research and the chemical managements. The key findings from this review are that: (1) Soil is the sink of CPs in the environment; (2) Human activities, economic activities and economic level have important impacts on the occurrence of CPs in different regions; (3) The risk assessment indicates that ecological risk and human exposure risk of CPs at present levels are relatively low. Furthermore, this study introduces the control measures of SCCPs and MCCPs at home and abroad. In view of the consideration of chemical management and risk assessment, there is urgent need to carry out research on the migration, transformation, and exposure risk of MCCPs and LCCPs, especially to assess the potential economic, social, and environmental impact ascribed to the control management of CPs. This critical review provides important scientific data and technical support for the control of CPs products and national implementation of the Stockholm Convention. Moreover, this study will provide solid support for the risk assessment and possible control management of CPs in China.