Abstract: Mr. ZHU Xia is a petroleum geologist with profound attainments in theoretical science and an oil and gas prospector with rich practical experience. He is one of the pioneers of petroliferous basin research and one of the founders of petroleum geology in China. This article gives a brief review of Mr. ZHU Xia's core academic thoughts, and summarizes a series of innovative work methods and understanding put forward by some domestic scholars in studying, inheriting and developing Mr. ZHU Xia's academic thoughts in the past 30 years, including the author's works in basin evolution processes and hydrocarbon accumulation system analyses. Looking forward to the future, it is pointed out that the key scientific issues facing petroleum geology include the global and China's special geological background. It will definitely contribute to the development of China's petroleum geology theory and practice by studying, inheriting and developing Mr. ZHU Xia's academic thoughts.