In this study, 557 journal articles on the topic of green logistics included in the CNKI database between 2001 and 2023 were subjected to visualization and analysis using CiteSpace software. By analyzing the number of articles published in recent years, the source of literature, the co-occurrence of keywords, and the clustering, a knowledge map of this field of research in China was constructed. The findings of the study indicate that the collaboration between authors and institutions in this research domain in China is not yet characterized by a high level of proximity, exhibiting a tendency towards extensive dispersion and limited concentration. The research focus has gradually shifted from the theoretical to the practical level of exploration over time. A summary and analysis of the emergent words reveals that the dominant research directions in this field are the circular economy and the green economy. Additionally, the aggregation of the logistics industry represents a novel research topic.