Higher requirements have been imposed for the safety and economical operation and maintenance (O&M) of high-speed trains as a result of increasing operating speed, number of train sets in service, and vehicle types as well as complex service conditions such as long routing and multi-physics coupling. The research and application of prognostics and health management (PHM) technology in the field of high-speed trains provides important technical support for the steady operation of China's high-speed trains over long distance, on large scale, and in high density. This study presents the significance of PHM for high-speed trains and reviews the development process of high-speed train PHM in China, which has evolved from the initial safety monitoring to breakthroughs in health monitoring technologies of key systems and then the current integrated lifecycle O&M management in the past two decades. It further summarizes the major technical breakthroughs in four aspects, namely, comprehensive train condition monitoring, accurate assessment and diagnosis prediction, vehicle remote O&M services, and intelligent O&M decision support. In the face of the future challenges of efficient and safe O&M, substantial cost reduction, and consumption reduction of China's high-speed trains, suggestions are proposed in the following aspects: wide-area and entire-process adaptability, centralized management and application of train data and computing resources, train design based on PHM, and train–line–station integrated intelligent O&M, so as to promote China's high-speed train technology to maintain a lead.