Background and Objectives Haemovigilance is an integral part of blood safety worldwide. Many haemovigilance systems are already in place or are developing, and national or regional haemovigilance systems have been implemented in several countries. In 2016, the WHO Global Database on Blood Safety reported that national haemovigilance system had been established in 70 countries, among which 38 countries were members of the International Haemovigilance Network by the end of August 2017. In this review, we retrospect the development and current status of haemovigilance to outline its function in transfusion chain. Materials and Methods Through contrasting the evolution of haemovigilance definition in different periods, by analysing its scope and breadth, and with the illustrating its achievements and challenges, we retrospect the development and current status of haemovigilance to outline its function in transfusion chain. Results Haemovigilance is becoming an important aspect of transfusion medicine,could be used as quality indicator for monitoring the blood transfusion safety, contribute significantly to evidence‐based transfusion medicine and results in improved policies, procedures and practices in the blood transfusion chain. Conclusions The scope of haemovigilance may cover the whole transfusion chain, from collection of blood and its components to follow‐up of recipients. Haemovigilance is an essential component of quality management in a blood system and haemovigilance is the best quality management system of the transfusion chain.