Compared to the conventional electrical interconnects, the optical interconnects has the advantages of higher speed, higher bandwidth, lower power, lower propagation loss and anti-electromagnetic interference. This make the optical interconnects have the potential application prospects in many fields, such as high performance computer, high speed switching system, wavelength division multiplex (WDM) terminal and so on. The board-level circuits play a leading role in the electronic systems. Hence, the state of the art of waveguide-based board-level optical interconnects is introduced and analyzed. Moreover, through comparing the development status of the optical-electrical printed circuit board (EOPCB) in domestic and abroad, a reference of the main research direction and focus is provided for our country. Finally, the future development of the board-level optical interconnect technology is prospected.