Human papillomavirus (HPV) is closely associated with cervical cancer, and HPV infection is a common female lower genital tract infection that is sexually transmitted. Direct skin-to-skin contact is the most common route of transmission; however, there are other ways to become infected with HPV besides sex, and HPV infection is not an indicator that morality is in question. More than 100 types of HPV viruses have been identified, and more than 40 of them have been associated with reproductive tract infections. Based on their potential to cause cervical cancer, in 2012 the International Agency for Research on Cancer classified them as high-risk, suspected high-risk and low-risk types. The first two are associated with cervical cancer and high-grade vulvar, vaginal, and cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions, while the latter is associated with genital warts and low-grade vulvar, vaginal, and cervical squamous intraepithelial lesions. There are 12 common high-risk types: 16, 18, 31, 33, 35, 39, 45, 51, 52, 56, 58, 59; 8 suspected high-risk types: 26, 53, 66, 67, 68, 70, 73, 82; and 11 low-risk types: 6, 11, 40, 42, 43, 44, 54, 61, 72, 81, 89. HPV testing helps determine the likelihood and risk of developing cervical cancer. HPV infection in the lower genital tract is relatively common, with foreign reports of about 10% infection rate in the general population. In China, there are differences in reports on the population prevalence and distribution of high-risk HPV types, and there is a lack of multicenter studies with large samples. The majority of HPV infections in the genital tract are transient and without clinical symptoms; about 90% of HPV infections resolve within 2 years, and the time to resolution is mainly determined by the HPV type, with low-risk HPV taking 5-6 months and high-risk HPV taking 8-24 months; only a very small number of HPV-infected patients develop clinically visible lower genital tract condyloma, squamous intraepithelial lesions and cancer. Currently, HPV vaccines in clinical use are mainly prophylactic vaccines; therapeutic vaccines are still under development or in clinical trials. Prophylactic vaccines include quadrivalent vaccines (covering HPV 16, 18, 6 and 11) and bivalent vaccines (covering HPV 16 and 18). The nine-valent vaccine has recently been marketed abroad and covers the types (HPV 16, 18, 31, 33, 45, 52, 58, 6 and 11), the evaluation of its effectiveness requires further clinical validation. Regardless of which vaccine is administered, follow-up cervical cancer screening is still necessary.