Abstract Fermentation is the processes in which microbial population functions. Those processes are supported and maintained by the three kinds of flow: 1. the electron flow which operates along with energy-form transformation 2. the metabolite fluxes which operate along with dissimilation and assimilation, 3. the information flow which operates along with the meta bolic regulations in different levels. On the basis of the analysis of the operation rules of above three kinds of flow, the three basic viewpoints of industrial fermentation are put forward: 1. the viewpoint of energy support, 2. the viewpoint of metabolic network, 3. the viewpoint of cell economy. Those viewpoints may reveal the biological attribution, the power and potentiality of industrial fermentation, as well as the behavior criterion of industrial fermentationAbstract Fermentation is the processes in which microbial population functions. Those processes are supported and maintained by the three kinds of flow: 1. the electron flow which operates along with energy-form transformation, 2. the metabolite fluxes which operate along with dissimilation and assimilation, 3. the information flow which operates along with the metabolic regulations in different levels. On the basis of the analysis of the operation rules of above three kinds of flow, the three basic viewpoints of industrial fermentation are put forward: 1. the viewpoint of energy support, 2. the viewpoint of metabolic network, 3. the viewpoint of cell economy. Those viewpoints may reveal the biological attribution, the power and potentiality of industrial fermentation, as well as the behavior criterion of industrial fermentation