The oil and gas exploration in offshore China has made great achievements, and as the important areas of offshore exploration, the shallow waters contribute most of the oil and gas reserves and production. However, the available area for exploration is diminishing and the cost of exploration is rising. The field changes and ever increasing difficulties of exploration bring new challenges technically and economically. Therefore, for effective exploration of shallow-water oil and gas in offshore China, it is necessary to center on the general requirements of becoming a powerful marine country and the ideas of value exploration, initiate key research projects in the fields of China’s offshore stratigraphic-lithologic reserves, Paleogene reserves, buried-hill reserves, high temperature and pressure reserves and hydrocarbon-rich sags, and form geological theories and explorative technologies of large and medium size oil and gas field in offshore China. The measures regarding the challenges include: (1) Innovating theoretical understanding and optimizing new exploration fields, (2) developing technical capabilities and improving the success rate of exploration, and (3) enhancing management level and deepening value exploration.