Researches on the processing method of ceramic bearing ball, the formation and propagation of defects in the manufacturing and the nondestructive evaluation (NDE) are summarized in this paper. The key for successful processing of high strength ceramic balls is to avoid producing related defects. Many investigations show that the material microstruc-tures, defects as well as mechanical processing parameters influence the final surface quality significantly. Most of NDE technologies, such as radiation, ultrasonic, dye-penetration and laser scatter, have been studied for ceramic bearing ball surface inspection around the world. So far, the difficulties to develop the perfect NDE system for ceramic beating balls, which are caused by the defect variety and surface unfolding, have not been overcome yet.