Abstract: Surgery is the first choice of treatment for resectable esophageal squamous cell carcinoma. However, for locally advanced patients, the treatment of esophageal cancer requires a more multidisciplinary, comprehensive approach. Nevertheless, there is no unified standard that defines the best comprehensive treatment strategy for esophageal cancer. In recent years, neoadjuvant therapy has been widely considered as the best treatment by practitioners, but there are still many controversies, including those related to the selection of a neoadjuvant therapy scheme, timing of surgery after neoadjuvant therapy, choice of postoperative adjuvant therapy after neoadjuvant therapy, choice of neoadjuvant and adjuvant therapy, and sensitivity testing of neoadjuvant therapy. In this paper, the present situation and controversies regarding the application of neoadjuvant therapy for esophageal squamous cell carcinoma are reviewed systematically.