Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) has been widely studied due to its unique advantages such as remote sensing, real-time multi-elemental detection and none-to-little damage. With the efforts of researchers around the world, LIBS has been developed by leaps and bounds. Moreover, in recent years, more and more Chinese LIBS researchers have put tremendous energy in promoting LIBS applications. It is worth mentioning that the application of LIBS in a specific field has its special application background and technical difficulties, therefore it may develop in different stages. A review summarizing the current development status of LIBS in various fields would be helpful for the development of LIBS technology as well as its applications especially for Chinese LIBS community since most of the researchers in this field work in application. In the present work, we summarized the research status and latest progress of main research groups in coal, metallurgy, and water, etc. Based on the current research status, the challenges and opportunities of LIBS were evaluated, and suggestions were made to further promote LIBS applications.