Abstract: Acinetobacter baumannii is an opportunistic pathogen and a major pathogen causing hospital-associated infection worldwide. In recent years, the prevalence rate of extensively drug-resistant A. baumannii (XDR-AB) infection shows an upward trend worldwide, and A. baumannii has become one of the major pathogens causing the hospital-associated infection, which posing a tremendous threat to worldwide public health safety. The critically ill patients with low immune function are the major population for the XDR-AB infection, and the prevalence of XDR-AB is closely associated with the abuse of antibiotics, invasive medical procedures and long-term viability in hospital environment. The XDR-AB strains have produced extensive resistance to the commonly used antibiotics, which makes the treatment be less effective and brings great challenge to the clinical treatment. The biological characteristics, drug resistance mechanisms of A. baumannii strains and the progress of research on current prevalence trend of XDR-AB strains are comprehensively evaluated in the article, close attention are paid to the current treatment methods of XDR-AB, and the prevention and control strategies for XDR-AB infections are put forward so as to provide guidance for prevention of the XDR-AB infection and prevalence and look forward to the future research directions.