Permanent ground deformation (PGD) is one of the main causes of buckling, fracture and leakage of mountain pipeline, resulting in heavy loss of life and property. The existing “strain-based method” and technical standards cannot satisfy the urgent needs of design and safety evaluation of in-service high-grade steel pipelines in PGD zone and need further research. The current situation of “strain-based” failure discrimination is firstly analyzed and summarized. Technical actualities and imperfections of strain calculation methods (analytical, numerical, and experimental methods) and safety evaluation methods for pipe-soil interaction are indicated by the main patterns of pipe failure with the “allowable strain” and “calculated strain” under complex PDG working conditions. Future research topics and path of the design and safety evaluation based on actual working conditions and pipe-soil interactions are synthetically proposed, while considering the future development trend and production needs of mountain pipelines in China.