Identifying research focus is helpful to promote the development of vocational education research in China, improve the quality of vocational education, and meet the social demand for various professional talents. From the academic papers published in the field of vocational education in 2022, it is found that the relevant research has formed an ecological phenomenon of vocational education research with sustained attention on traditional research topics while also responding to policy focuses. Compared with the research focus of vocational education in other countries, the vocational education research with China characteristics focuses on three aspects: 1) the research on promoting the innovation and development of vocational education system and mechanism, such as the mode of industry-education integration and the mode of school-enterprise cooperation; 2) the research to promote the reform and development of vocational education, such as the innovation of curriculum system and the reform of “the teaching workforce, materials and methods”; 3) the research to promote the socialist core values and the good traditional Chinese culture, and to improve the quality of vocational education personnel cultivation, such as developing workmanship and cultivating professionalism in the new era. Vocational education research in China should pay attention to practical application, keep up with cutting-edge technologies, adhere to the combination of theory and practice, and broaden international horizons, so as to comprehensively deepen the research on industry-education integration, carry out interdisciplinary integration, broaden the research content and deepen the research level, and make rational use of science and technology for the sustainable development of vocational education.