Objective To systematically analyze the research landscape of China’s rehabilitation industry, identify core contradictions and evolutionary pathways, and provide evidence for policy optimization and academic innovation. Methods Literature published up to December 31, 2024 was retrieved from China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, and Chongqing VIP databases using rehabilitation industry as the subject term. Bibliometric methods such as keyword clustering, strategic coordinate analysis, temporal evolution (CiteSpace and R language) were employed to dissect research patterns, hotspot evolution, and innovation bottlenecks of the rehabilitation industry. Results Finally, 183 articles were included for analysis. China’s rehabilitation research exhibits a policy-driven, fragmented pattern (policy-focused journals accounted for 25.68% of publications; the Ministry of Civil Affairs had the highest publication volume, accounting for 2.19%. There was a structural disconnect between demand and research: on the one hand, the outbreak of elderly rehabilitation demand was marginalized in research (located in the lower left quadrant of the strategic coordinates, but keyword clustering dissolved in the “# 0 rehabilitation industry”); on the other hand, although exercise rehabilitation was a hot topic (ranked first in frequency, centrality>0.1), its maturity was insufficient (located in the lower right quadrant of the strategic coordinates). The research hotspots continued to shift towards “integration of industry and education” and “high-quality development” (temporal evolution), with the emergence of the term “rehabilitation” (strength=4.09) marking a historical focus, while technology transformation and collaboration in the public welfare market (isolation of the language rehabilitation industry) had become key breakthrough directions. Conclusion The rehabilitation industry in China urgently needs to break the dilemma of “high yield and low cooperation”, promote research and practice collaboration through three-dimensional innovation of technology education system, and support the rehabilitation needs of an aging society.