Joint radar and communication (JRC) technology has become important for civil and military applications for decades. This paper introduces the concepts, character-istics and advantages of JRC technology, pre-senting the typical applications that have bene-fited from JRC technology currently and in the future. This paper explores the state-of-the-art of JRC in the levels of coexistence, coopera-tion, co-design and collaboration. Compared to previous surveys, this paper reviews the entire trends that drive the development of ra-dar sensing and wireless communication using JRC. Specifically, we explore an open research issue on radar and communication operating with mutual benefits based on collaboration, which represents the fourth stage of JRC evo-lution. This paper provides useful perspectives for future researches of JRC technology.