Abstract: The positive role of evidence-based social work in promoting the effectiveness of social work, facilitating the professionalization of social work, and bridging the gap between theory and practice makes it a possible strategy for achieving “good practice” in social work. However, evidence-based social work, which emerged in Western societies, has both value and limitations in Chinese practice. This paper discusses the development of evidence-based social work in China by sorting out and analyzing the value and limitations of evidence-based social work in the exploration of local practice in China, and discusses the development of evidence-based social work in China from the perspective of the Western experience of developing evidence-based social work education, building an evidence review system, creating an evidence repository, and establishing a system for the dissemination of evidence, as well as from the perspective of the construction of a local knowledge system in the context of Chinese practice. The development of evidence-based social work in China should not only focus on learning from the experience of institutionalizing and building evidence in Western evidence-based social work, reflecting its scientific nature, but also focus on programmatic research that is consistent with China’s social construction and social governance, reflecting the intrinsic characteristics of evidence-based social work in China.

Key words: evidence-based social work, evidence system, indigenous knowledge system