The purpose of the paper is to investigate the effect of surface modification on the friction characteristics of sliding bearings. This paper reviews the previous studies on the influences of surface texture, coating materials and lubricant additives on the performance of the sliding bearings. Through the theoretical models and simulation experiments between different friction couple, the researchers found that under the condition of fluid lubrication, the surface modification design can significantly improve the friction characteristics of the surface of the friction couple, which has attracted the wide attention of researchers. The development status and latest progress in improving the surface properties of friction couple are introduced mainly from the geometrical characteristics of surface texture, the matrix of surface coating materials and the types of lubricating additives. Among them, the geometric features of texture mainly include texture shape, scale, parameters, position and combination form. The types of coating material substrates mainly include iron-based alloys and aluminum-based alloys. Lubricating oil additives mainly include ionic liquids and nanoparticles. Finally, the existing problems and future development directions of surface modification are pointed out.