Abstract: Fatty acid esters derived from vegetable oil and animal fat have assumed importance as a raw material for chemical industry and a potential diesel fuel extender known as biodiesel. Transesterification is one of the most important methods of esters preparation from oil and fat. The latest advances in the preparation of fatty ester via homogeneous and heterogeneous basic catalysts，which include alkaline–earth metals，layered double hydroxide and molecular sieves，are reviewed. For the high acid value oil，“two steps transesterification” and solid acid catalyst are discussed. The relationship between structure and catalysis of sulfonic fused ring compounds and meso-pore materials are analyzed. Many scientists are interested in lipase catalysts for their moderate reactive conditions and low contamination. Reducing the effects of short chain alcohol on the catalytic activity and increasing the conversion rate are the more important aspects. In the supercritical conditions，methanol and oil can react quickly and water is not harmful to the transesterification. In this work，the advantages and disadvantages of four methods are analyzed，and the research and development are discussed.