Standards for national parks to be drafted

China will draft a series of standards for the construction of national parks and will put an estimated 50 locations on the priority list, forestry authorities said on Wednesday.

The standards will follow the principle of selecting representative areas that have geographical integrity and where a park will benefit significant numbers of nearby residents, according to an official from the State Forestry and Grassland Administration.

"China has about 60 to 200 candidate regions that may meet the standards, covering 6 to 9 percent of the country's landscape. A team of experts is doing the evaluations. About 50 regions will be included in pilot projects," said Tang Xiaoping, deputy director of the administration's national park management office.