Cronobacter spp. is a foodborne pathogen, which can easily lead to infection in newborns and low- birth-weight premature infants, causig diseases such as necrotizing enterocolitis, meningitis and septicemia, with the mortality rate up to 40%~80%. After cure, patients may suffer from severe psychiatric sequelae. Epidemiological studies have shown that there is a close association between Cronobacter spp. infection in infants and powdered infant formula (PIF). In recent years, Cronobacter spp. contamination of PIF occurred frequently, and its drug resistance has created great challenges to clinical treatments, resulting in serious consequences. The reason is that the pathogen has strong tolerance to PIF and its processing environment and is not easy to be completely destroyed via sterilization, causing continuous pollution. Therefore, for detailed understanding of the growth characteristics of Cronobacter spp. under adverse conditions, this paper reviews the current research progress on the tolerance of Cronobacter spp. from the perspectives of its resistance to heat, desiccation, acid, alkali, UV and drug, in order to provide reference for the prevention, controls, elimination and clinical treatment of Cronobacter spp. in China.