Photovoltaic microfluidic manipulation utilizes electrostatic interaction of a non-uniform photovoltaic electrostatic field on microfluidic targets to achieve non-contact manipulation. Recently, photovoltaic microfluidic manipulation based on lithium niobate (LN) has been paid a lot of attention, and is considered as a key technology for LN-based biophotonic chips. Compared with traditional electrical and optical manipulation, photovoltaic microfluidic manipulation, using only low-power laser beams but being valid for mass of targets in a wide range, doesn’t require external power sources and fabrication of complex electrode structures, and therefore can avoid external pollution and interference to internal biological environment. In this paper, theoretical basis of photovoltaic microfluidic manipulation based on LN is introduced and the recent achievements in this field is reviewed.