China has made achievements in offshore drilling equipment, and it can now develop the shallow-water drilling rigs independently. However, as far as deep-water drilling equipment is concerned, there still exists a big gap between China and the international advanced level, which inevitably hinders the deep-water oilfield development in the country. To accelerate the development of China’s offshore drilling equipment, this study first analyzes the development status of the equipment in China and abroad from three aspects: shallow-water drilling machine, deep-water drilling machine, and new-type marine drilling machine; it then summarizes the development status in China and the gap between China and the international advanced level. Subsequently, it studies the key technologies for realizing the localization of the deep-water drilling equipment, and proposes corresponding countermeasures and suggestions. We propose that China should focus its efforts on making breakthroughs in the design, materials, technology, inspection, and sea test of the deep-water drilling rigs. To clarify the development path of the offshore drilling equipment, China should establish and improve the standards and specifications regarding offshore drilling rigs; develop different types of deep-water drilling equipment at different stages and by different levels; establish an integrated testing platform and a sea test base; strengthen inter-industry cooperation; develop this sector in an innovation-driven mode; and promote diversified, serial, automated, and intelligent development.