The national park system is a crucial part of the institutional reform of China's ecological civilization, said Li Bin, vice-chairwoman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), during an inspection tour of national park pilot projects in East China's Fujian province from Nov 11-14. 

Led by Li, a group of members from the Committee on Population, Resources and Environment of the CPPCC National Committee held a symposium with local officials and workers, inspected local national park sites and visited the Gu Wenchang Memorial Hall located inside the Dongshan national forest park in Fujian. 

Li called for deeply understanding the importance of establishing a sound national park system for improving the scientific protection and rational utilization of China's natural resources, promoting a harmonious co-existence between humans and nature and advancing the building of a Beautiful China. 

Li stressed that ecological protection should always be the top priority and a red line that cannot be crossed in building a national park. Local governments should uphold the principles of safeguarding national interests and public benefits in the building of national parks. 

She also highlighted efforts to improve national park management, operation and supervision to build a standardized and efficient national park system with Chinese characteristics. 

Li said the construction of national park pilot projects has made progress in recent years and the country needs to explore a mechanism for national park construction based on the pilot projects' experiences and extend its use nationwide. 

She suggested that CPPCC National Committee members undertake their political consultation responsibilities and put forward more valuable proposals concerning essential issues in national park construction, including the handling of the relationship between protection and development, establishing a cross-region coordination mechanism and creating a long-term funding mechanism.