The environmental compatibility issue of structural materials in liquid lead bismuth eutectic (LBE) is a bottleneck problem restricting the development and construction of lead-cold fast reactors. 9~12Cr ferritic/martensitic and austenitic stainless steels are the preferred key equipment structural materials for lead-cold fast reactors, but facing severe liquid metal corrosion (oxidation and dissolution) problems in high-temperature liquid LBE environments. Usually, an appropriate amount of Si or Al is added to the alloy to enhance its resistance to liquid metal corrosion. This paper reviews the research progress on the oxidation, dissolution, slow strain rate tensile, creep, fatigue and crack propagation behavior of 9~12Cr ferritic/martensitic steels, austenitic stainless steels, Si-enhanced ferritic/martensitic steels and austenitic stainless steels, and Al forming austenitic stainless steels in the liquid LBE environment. The liquid metal embrittlement sensitivity and damage mechanism of ferritic/martensitic steels (body-centered cubic) and austenitic stainless steels (face-centered cubic) in liquid LBE environment are investigated. The existing problems in the current research are summarized, and the future research directions development visions are prospected.