As a crucial strategic and economic crop, cotton faces pressing needs to advance full-process mechanization in its production, particularly in the context of structural labor shortages in rural areas and continuously rising production costs. This advancement is essential for enhancing industrial competitiveness and ensuring national cotton security. The development status, representative models, structural features, and relevant technologies and equipment were systematically reviewed, both domestically and internationally, focusing on five key stages: tillage, seeding, field management, harvesting, and residual film recovery. It indicated that while China had essentially achieved full-process mechanization in cotton production, challenges persist, including insufficient performance and reliability of core equipment, reliance on imported key components, weak foundational research on soil-machine-crop interaction mechanisms, low levels of equipment intelligence, and uneven mechanization development across regions. It was proposed to focus on weak links such as harvesting, seeding, field management, and residual film recovery, and to make breakthroughs in core technologies. Additionally, strengthening the integration of fundamental research with cutting-edge technologies was crucial. The promotion of precision operation systems based on Beidou navigation, multi-source information perception, and intelligent decision-making was recommended to establish an integrated smart production system. Furthermore, formulating regionally differentiated development strategies would advance the R&D of equipment suitable for small and medium-sized fields and innovative socialized service models.