Corn stalk can produce fuel ethanol by pretreatment, enzyme hydrolysis and fermentation, but its own tight structure of lignocellulose makes the enzyme hydrolysis efficiency very low and leads to low ethanol production. Therefore, the proper methods of pretreatment of corn stalk will destroy the original fiber structure and improve the efficiency and availability of enzyme hydrolysis. The current domestic and foreign new methods of maize straw pretreatment were summarized in this paper, and the advantages and disadvantages of each pretreatment method was analyzed. It provided references for the selection of pretreatment methods for fuel ethanol production from corn stalk fermentation.