Hydraulics investigations of filling and emptying systems should be one of the most concerned contents when constructing and administrating for ship lock projects with water-saving basins. Compared with conventional ship locks，the water filling/emptying operation process of water-saving ship locks is more complicated. On the basis of a large amount of research data，we systematically discussed the types and hydraulic characteristics of ship locks with water-saving basins，water delivery system forms，valve opening and closing methods，and water delivery hydrodynamic characteristics，etc.，and summarized and analyzed the research results and progress in various aspects. In the future，we can focus on the following aspects to carry out in-depth research：flow rate distribution law of ship locks with water-saving basins through side ports in a long culvert filling/emptying system，types，number and cross-section type of the culvert connecting with double lane ship locks，combined valve operation schemes，and performance of reducing the intrusion of saltwater.