With the development of coatings industry and the increasingly sound environmental regulations in China，the definition，testing methods，and content limit requirements for volatile organic compounds（VOC） in the coatings industry have become increasingly standardized and strict. The article summarized the definitions and testing methods of VOC related to coatings and coating emissions both domestically and internationally，and analyzed some specific“VOC”issues that had been feedback after the implementation of the new six mandatory national standards in Chinese coatings industry，such as exemption lists for low photochemical reaction compounds，rationality of 250 ℃ boiling point VOC separation，semi-volatile organic compounds（SVOC） in architectural coatings，inconsistency between product VOC content and coating VOC emissions，the differences in VOC content of water-based industrial coatings caused by testing methods，unification of VOC content limit units were expected to be helpful for the revision of testing method standards and VOC content limit standards.