A vortex beam is a light field with helical phase, which is widely applied in optical manipulation, optical sensing, optical communication, microscopy and quantum entanglement. The concept and generation methods of vortex beams are introduced. The recent advances of continuous vortex beams, pulsed vortex beams, nonlinear vortex beams and vortex microlasers in the past five years are reviewed, and their development trends are analyzed and prospected.