[Purpose/significance] This paper aims to understand the development characteristics and development trend of China’s tacit knowledge management’s transnational collaboration in recent 15 years, and find the shortage and advantage of China. [Method/process] Selecting the literature on tacit knowledge international collaboration from SCI-E and SSCI database in Web of Science during 2001-2015 as data source, we conducted a systematic analysis and measurement on China’s research status about tacit knowledge transnational scientific collaboration in terms of collaborative output, structure, partners, influence and status through methods of scientometrics and social networks analysis. [Result/conclusion] China’s tacit knowledge transnational collaborative papers present characteristics of rapid development. Bilateral cooperation is in the top and cooperation is becoming more and more widely. The cooperation rate is rising. International collaborative participants are mainly distributed in European and American developed countries. China is always on the verge of a network and the network influence and control power is low.