Abstract: Biodiversity is the general term for all plant, animal and microbial species, their genetic variations, and ecosystems on Earth. It plays an irreplaceable role in ensuring human ecological security, and sustainable economic and social development. But since the Industrial Revolution, with rapid population growth and large-scale resource exploitation, biodiversity loss has exacerbated, and the Earth is facing the sixth crisis of biological extinction. Establishing protected areas represented by national parks is the most effective way to conserve biodiversity and natural resources. To effectively protect China′s biodiversity and natural landscapes, and preserve precious natural resource assets for future generations, the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China proposed the establishment of a national park system in 2013, which regards the establishment of a natural protected area system with national parks as the dominance as an important task for China′s ecological civilization construction. This paper systematically reviews the international experience in the identification of role of national parks, evaluated the spatial distribution characteristics of biodiversity and natural landscapes in China, and identified key areas for protection. Based on the analysis of the problems faced by China′s nature protected areas, it explored the functional role of national parks in China, for the purposes provide reference for the management and construction of national parks.