Rice is one of the world"s major food crops. With increasing salinization in planting areas, grain yield and security have been seriously threatened. High salinity in the soil causes excessive accumulation of Na+ ^and K/Na imbalance in cells, resulting in ion toxicity and osmotic stress. A series of adaptive mechanisms have been evolved in rice to alleviate the growth inhibition caused by salt stress, including the uptake or transport of K⁺ and compartmentalization or expulsion of Na+ ^by potassium carriers. The family of potassium carriers mediating this process in rice can be divided into five families: Shaker, TPK, KT/HAK/KUP, HKT and CPA. This paper reviews recent work on the function and regulation mechanisms of the potassium carriers in rice in response to salt stress and discusses the future perspectives of research.