Wheat straw is an ideal green renewable resource, which is widely used as fertilizers, feedstuffs, edible funguses, industrial raw materials and fuels. Hydrothermal liquefaction of biomass that works under normal or slightly pressurized conditions results in higher oil quality. We summarize the technical principles of hydrothermal liquefaction, analyze the difficulties and problems in the utilization of various technologies, and put forward the development trend of promoting the application of biomass energy to high value-added industrial raw materials.