Traditional communication systems are unable to meet the urgent demand for transmission efficiency in intelligent communication scenarios. An overview of semantic communication is presented as a new communication paradigm, which can understand and transmit the essence of information in intelligent communication scenarios. The development prospects of semantic communication in future wireless communication technologies are also discussed. Firstly, based on the type of data, semantic communication is classified into three categories: single−modal semantic communication, cross−modal semantic communication, and multi−modal semantic communication. The current research status under each mode is combed. Furthermore, an in−depth analysis is conducted on performance evaluation metrics, transceiver system design, and resource management strategies within semantic communication networks. Related studies from recent years are analyzed with a focus on three enabling technologies and the challenges faced by various technologies and the key issues to be solved in future development have been proposed. Finally, the deep integration of semantic communication with future communication networks is explored and summarized. In the future, semantic communication urgently needs to establish a unified semantic performance evaluation system. Further research is required on cross−modal semantic fusion and semantic communication resource management strategies, and efforts should be made to continuously integrate semantic communication with the existing network architecture, in order to achieve the future communication vision of "semantic empowerment and intelligent interconnection".