Natural fiber composites have become a hot research topic all over the world, and have received strong support from governments. This paper first reviews the overall trend and development history of natural fiber composites, and analyzes their global market. Then the research highlights and situation of natural fiber composites are pointed out. Finally, the main industrial application fields of natural fiber composites are also summarized. In the future, High-performance and high value-added natural fiber composites are the important directions of global industrialization market. And it is necessary to further refine the key technologies behind the industrialization, and promote the green, intelligent and high-performance manufacturing of such composites, so as to play a positive role in national environmental protection and social sustainable development.

The natural and fiber-reinforced resin matrix composites have been increasingly and widely applied in society in order to improve the environment and promote sustainable development. In the first part of this article, the major foci of recent research on natural fiber composites are reviewed in detail, including fiber surface treatment, fiber agglomeration and dispersion, interfacial transcrystallinity, impact strength, foaming technique, inflaming retardance, biodegradable resin matrix and nanofiber reinforcement techniques. The fiber surface treatment and fiber dispersion are important factors in improving the mechanical properties of the natural fiber composites. The interfacial transcrystallinity can be generated on natural fibers owing to the rough surfaces. The natural fiber composites have a low impact strength. In order to reduce the density and improve the flame retardant effect of the composites, both the foaming technique and flame-retardant technology are studied in detail. The biodegradable resin matrix and natural fibers can be mixed to prepare fully-degradable composite materials. Using the natural nano fiber reinforcements in reinforcing resins is another important research area. In the second part of this article, the applications of these composites are summarized systematically, especially those involving the automotive industry, household appliances, construction materials, packaging materials and boards of musical instruments. Currently, the automotive industry and the production of construction materials are the most important application areas of these composites.