Chronic pancreatitis is a complex inflammatory disease characterized by tissue atrophy and irreversible fibrosis. In the late course of the disease, a progressive loss of endocrine and exocrine function occurs. Since the discovery of the first pathogenic mutation of chronic pancreatitis, great progress has been made in the genetic study of pancreatitis. Most of the chronic pancreatitis-related risk genes encode trypsin, trypsin inhibitors or other proteins highly expressed in the pancreas. Herein we reviewed the genetic research progress of chronic pancreatitis in recent years and summed up its genetic pathogenesis.