A bibliographical and scientometric analysis has been conducted for a comprehensive description of the status quo and emerging trend of domestic ESP (English for Specific Purposes) research through CiteSpace, visualizing related papers published in CNKI’s Chinese Core Journals, CSSCI Source Journals and Chinese Journal of ESP since 2000. Results reveal that the past 20 years witnessed a general uptrend in ESP-related research including ESP ontology, ESP teaching materials, ESP theories and instruction. Moreover, Linguistic and Sociolinguistic research on ESP are representative among the trans-disciplinary study. From the diachronic perspective, many cutting-edge domestic ESP research has emerged, such as Business English, Subject-based English and English Instruction, among which teaching of academic writing is the present focus of attention.