As one important member of main group metals, magnesium (Mg) takes great parts in fields involving biology, medicine, industry, and some others. Because of the unique characteristics including but not limited to low-cost, non-toxic and light-weight, Mg-based coordination polymers (CPs) with good performances such as gas storage and separation, catalysis and fluorescence have received certain attention in recent years. However, compared with the well-studied transition metal and rare earth metal based CPs, the report on Mg-CPs is relatively scarce. In this review we briefly summarize the synthesis, structural features, and fluorescent (FL) properties of Mg-CPs on the basis of recent related advances made in our lab. The chemical sensing, white emitting, and mechanoresponsive photoluminescence of selected FL-Mg-CPs are emphasized.