Sichuan golden snub-nosed monkeys are seen at the Yuhe area of the Giant Panda National Park in northwest China's Gansu Province, Oct. 14, 2023.(Xinhua/Zhang Xinxin)

China and the US have agreed to establish a cooperation mechanism covering national parks, China's National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) said on Thursday. National parks authorities from both countries also exchanged recent progress in the construction of nature reserves and national park systems, discussed specific areas and activities for future cooperation.

NFGA held a video conference for the first time with the US National Park Service on Tuesday. During the conference, China reviewed the cooperation between the two sides in the field of nature conservation, and introduced the current situation of China's nature reserve system and the accelerated construction of national parks. The Chinese side expressed the hope to further strengthen exchanges and cooperation with the US in the construction of national parks.

The US side detailed the country's national park system, especially its important experience in volunteer service and concession operations. They expressed in restoring and strengthening the original exchange activities on the basis of the paired nature reserves, and invited the Chinese side to visit the US for exchange and training.

Both sides agree to restore and strengthen local-level cooperation on the basis of the established sister protected areas. 

China and the US will carry out key exchanges coveringnational park legislation and law enforcement, environmental education and volunteer services. 

Starting from 2015, China has launched 10 pilot national parks to protect its natural environment and biodiversity. In October 2021, the country officially designated five of these pilot projects as national parks, further improving the national park system. There are a total of 63 national parks in the US.

They will initiate consultations on the China-US Memorandum of Understanding on National Park Cooperation as soon as possible. The US side committed to providing training opportunities for Chinese national park managers at the National Park Institute of the University of California, Merced and Yosemite National Park in 2024.

The renewed cooperation came at a time when bilateral ties are gradually returning to normal after the leaders of two countries met in San Francisco on Wednesday. 

The two sides also agreed to promote and strengthen dialogue and cooperation in various fields, including establishing an intergovernmental dialogue on artificial intelligence, setting up a China-US drug control cooperation work group to carry out drug enforcement, resuming high-level military-to-military communication, China-US defense department working meetings, China-US military maritime security consultation mechanism meetings based on equality and respect, and conducting China-US military regional leaders' conversations.

Global Times