Helium plays a pivotal role in numerous modern industries, yet China’s domestic supply has persistently covered less than 10% of demand. Enhancing exploration technologies for Helium is therefore critical to securing this strategic resource. Bibliometric analysis was combined with knowledge mapping, using literature on helium exploration and development published in the CNKI database from 2000 to 2025.For the first time, the field’s knowledge structure was reconstructed visually and its evolutionary patterns were quantified. By mining multi-dimensional data—including annual publication counts, author collaboration networks, and topic evolution—the development trajectory and current landscape of China’s Helium exploration research were unveiled from both spatial-temporal and life-cycle perspectives. The results show that China’s Helium research has progressed through three phases: an interest-driven exploratory period (2000—2011), a demand-driven theoretical development stage (2012—2021), and a policy-driven production and application surge (2022 present). These shifts reflect the combined influence of policy, technology, international dynamics, and market needs. Five core research teams lead the development of this field, forming a sound integration of “government-industry-academia-research-application”. The dynamic evolution of research hotspots is clear: in the early stage, the focus is on basic basin surveys and understanding of origins. In the middle stage, the focus shifts to resource potential evaluation and reservoir-forming condition analysis. In the recent stage, research delves into enrichment mechanisms, reservoir-forming models, strategic resource security, high-efficiency helium extraction technologies, and integrated application across the entire industrial chain. This shows an evolutionary path from phenomenon description to mechanism exploration, and further to systematic application. The latest progress was summarized in key scientific issues related to helium and recommendations were put forward to promote the high-quality development of the industry. Through quantitative, visual, and multi-scale comprehensive analysis methods, the complete development trajectory of helium research in China was systematically reviewed, revealed key driving factors, core strength structure, and hotspot evolution laws were revealed. This provides important scientific basis and strategic guidance for optimizing scientific research planning, enhancing industry-academia-research integration, and strengthening national helium resource security.