Overview of China’s national park system reform process

Having experienced a high economic growth rate, China is entering into a low one as the country needs to carry out policy reforms for better governance. In recent years, the national park system reform has been one of the pilot policies that has attracted great attention from local governments and the public. The central government established corresponding management systems during the institutional restructuring in 2018, and five out of ten pilots were selected due to their good performance on policy reform in 2021. This paper provides an overview of the policy background, a general introduction to the system, and a discussion of policy implementations. Our research suggests that China’s national parks need to improve their laws and regulations and establish an eco-compensation mechanism to encourage residents to participate in conservation and receive increasing benefits through green development.