BEIJING — China is drawing a layout plan for building national parks, according to the country's national park institute on Oct 21.

The plan will classify the country's land area into various ecological regions based on their natural features and ecological functions, said Tang Xiaoping, head of the institute, at a press conference. He added that future national park nominees will be selected from such regions.

The country will prioritize regions with vital ecological functions such as the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the Yellow River and Yangtze River basins for setting up national parks, Tang said.

China officially designated the first group of national parks earlier this month, a move aimed at further improving the national park system amid the country's nature conservation efforts.

With a protected land area of 230,000 square kilometers, the national parks are home to nearly 30 percent of key terrestrial wildlife species in the country.