Transition metal carbonates (MCO3, M=Mn, Fe, Co or Ni) have attracted much attention as a novel kind of advanced anode materials of lithium ion batteries due to their high theoretical capacity of about 1 600 mA·h·g-1. However, their practical applications have been greatly limited due to the poor conductivity, low ion conductivity and large volume expansion of micron scale transition metal carbonates synthesized by conventional methods. This paper summarized three typical and effective strategies to dramatically improve the lithium storage performances of transition metal carbonates based on the literature review, revealed the intrinsic reaction mechanism of transition metal carbonates and proposed a rational design strategy for the structural composition of MCO3, which is a reference value for the in-depth development of transition metal carbonate anodes with high specific capacity, excellent multiplicity performance and long-term cycling stability.