Abstract: The state of the artregarding the earthquake prediction in China isdeeply discussed in this paper. It is considered that the traditional earthquake prediction thinking has been stilldirected the recent empierical prediction. If we want toraise the level of earthquake prediction, we have to introduce new ideas and new observational approaches. The new ideas are usuallyorigina ted from the new observational results and hidden in failure lessons of earthquake prediction practic e. The earthquakescience is suchakind of science, which relies on the observation. So, the newand modern earthquake precursory observational approaches and techniques will play a key role in development of earthquake prediction science.

Key words: Earthquake prediction, New idea, New observational approach