Standard for recognition and management of national parks to be released next year

China has unveiled a guideline for improving the protection of nature reserve areas, with the aim of reaching world-leading management and preservation levels by 2035.

According to the guideline, released by the State Council late last month, a new mechanism for the management and protection of nature reserve areas, including national parks, will be built.

It is expected to provide systemic protection for natural ecosystems, relics, scenery and biodiversity, and also safeguard the country's ecological security.

The guideline calls for the establishment of a batch of national parks and a unified management system for the country's nature reserves－at all levels－by 2020. The next step will be the building of a protection mechanism, with national parks as a major component, by 2025.

"The guideline is a move by the country to advance sustainable development," a top official from the National Forestry and Grassland Administration said in a recent interview.

According to the administration, China has established more than 11,800 nature reserve areas at different levels that are protecting 18 percent of the country's land and 4.6 percent of its territorial waters.

In a report delivered at the opening of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China in 2017, President Xi Jinping said China would develop a nature reserves system composed mainly of national parks as part of the effort to build a beautiful China.

The primary purpose of establishing nature reserve areas is to protect a fragile ecosystem, which has been under constant attack from human activities.