Strictest nature conservation: China’s national park policy underpinned by power shift and turf dynamic

Oct 20, 2026

China initiated the national park policy in 2015 to achieve the strictest nature conservation. This study analyzes the power shift and turf dynamics among ministries during the policy process, using bureaucratic politics and Actor-centered Power theory. Evidence shows overlapping ministerial responsibilities before 2015 weakened central coercion and enabled excessive exploitation of protected areas. Top leaders reassert ministerial turfs via coercive power, incentivize participation in pilots, and the 2018 reform grants the State Forestry and Grassland Administration authority over protected areas.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages10

Reading Time25 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

National parks as part of China’s protected area system

Paradox between strict regulation and “strictest” goal

Research focus and political science framing

Forest Policy and Economics 154 (2023) 103033 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Forest Policy and Economics journal [homepage:](homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/forpol)[ www.elsevier.com/locate/forpol](homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/forpol) | Strictest nature conservation: China’s national park policy underpinned by power shift and turf dynamic
Pei Zhang a, Jiacheng Zhao b, *, Max Krottc
a Institute for Asian and African Studies, Humboldt University of Berlin, Germany b School of Public Administration, Central South University, China
c Chair Group of Forest and Nature Conservation Policy, Georg-August University, Goettingen, Germany | | | | --- | --- | --- | | A R T I C L E I N F O | | A B S T R A C T | | Keywords: China National park ACP theory Turf
Bureaucratic politics | | China initiated the national park policy in 2015 to achieve the strictest nature conservation. This study pointed out that the core of this policy is to increase central authority. Hence, adopting the bureaucratic politics and Actor-centered Power theory, the study aimed to analyze the power shift and turf dynamics among ministries in the national park policy process. Based on the evidence, the study found that before 2015, ministries’ overlapping turfs in managing protected areas weakened the central coercion of local nature conservation, resulting in excessive exploitation of these areas. To enhance conservation effectiveness, top leaders initiated the national park policy. Top leaders reclaimed ministerial turfs through coercive power, whereas, utilized the ownership of the national park policy to incentivize them to participate in pilots. Ultimately, the 2018 ministry reform led to the State Forestry and Grassland Administration acquiring turf over protected areas including national parks. Atthe same time, top leaders maintained the potential coercion through information provided by the Ministry of Ecology and Environment that retained supervision authority over national parks. This ministerial restructuring established robust national park administrations, breaking local power patterns and strengthening the central control on nature conservation, which ensures the strictest nature conservation. This study contributed to understanding Chinese national park policy based on the perspective of political science. Furthermore, it provided an analytical framework of power and turf for research on bureaucratic politics. | 1. Introduction As one of the most biodiverse countries in the world (MEP, 2011), Chinese nature conservation efforts play a crucial role in global ecosystem protection. As of the conclusion of 2020, China had successfully established a substantial number of protected areas, totaling over 9700, encompassing 185 million hectares. They account for approximately 18.3% of the nation’s land area and 3.2% of its jurisdictional sea area. The extensive coverage has proven effective that it safeguarded 95% of terrestrial ecosystem types, 85% of key protected wildlife species, and 65% of key protected wild plant species (Tang, 2021). The commendable achievement contributes to the global efforts aimed at mitigating climate change and addressing the critical issue of biodiversity loss (Ren and Guo, 2021).In 2019, China explicitly proposed the new protected area system after reform, and anticipated the total area of protected areas to exceed 18% of the nation’s land area by the year 2023 (SFGA et al., 2021). The system set national parks as the mainstay, nature reserves as the basis, and nature parks as the supplement (CCDRC, 2019). At the core, the new-established national parks should cover the Chinese most representative and intact natural ecosystems and be under the strictest nature conservation. Since 2015, China has established ten national park pilots, and as of 2021, five of them have been approved, covering a protected area of 230,000 km2, conserving nearly 30% of the key protected wildlife species in

FAQs

What is the study’s main goal regarding China’s national park policy?

To analyze how power shifts and “turf” dynamics among ministries shape the national park policy process toward achieving the strictest nature conservation.

What problem existed before 2015 in managing protected areas?

Overlapping ministerial turfs weakened central coercion over local conservation, contributing to excessive exploitation of protected areas.

How did top leaders strengthen conservation effectiveness in the policy process?

They reclaimed ministerial turfs through coercive power and used ownership of the national park policy to incentivize ministries to participate in pilots.

Oct 20, 2026

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