Abstract Green retrofit in existing buildings is of great significance in achieving a sustainable environment. Various policies have been introduced around the world to promote building green retrofit, whereas the uptake is rare for policy ineffectiveness. To improve policy effectiveness, it has been emphasized that a systematic review of existing retrofit policies has a key priority. In this study, a comprehensive review on retrofit policies in China was conducted because there are great application potential for green retrofit in China's existing buildings. This study examined the state-of-the-art development of retrofit policies during 1996–2019 and explored policy characteristics based on content analysis. The ambitious retrofit objectives and multiple retrofit instruments were identified. The relevant policy instruments can be grouped into six categories, including command and control, economic incentives, technology, information, certification, organization & professional. The most cited policy was the command and control instrument, followed by the certification-based instrument. Moreover, policy instruments related to economic incentives, technology and information were also valued by the China government, while the government attempted to reduce the adoption of economic incentives and technology measures since 2010. In addition, organization & professional instruments are largely ignored in China. In the light of these findings, a roadmap was proposed to enhance the effectiveness of building retrofit policies. This study sheds lights on the effectiveness of China's building policies to accelerate the popularity of green retrofit, and provides valuable references for other countries and regions to shape their own policy pathways towards the large-scale promotion of building green retrofit.