Abstract: WC-Co cemented carbide has excellent properties such as high strength, high toughness and high wear resistance, and has broad development prospects in the industrial field. WC-Co cemented carbide strengthening can further improve the performance, such as hardness, wear resistance and fracture toughness, thereby expanding the applications in aerospace, resource extraction, equipment manufacturing and other fields. The research results of strengthening WC-Co cemented carbide with rare earth elements and rare earth oxides are listed. The strengthening mechanisms of rare earth, including refining grains, improving bonding phase structure and strengthening grain boundaries,are summarized. The optimization measures of preparation process such as carbon content control, sintering and heat treatment of WC-Co cemented carbide are reviewed. Finally, the problems existing in the research of WC-Co cemented carbide strengthening are summarized, and the future research direction is prospected.