In 2017, China’s central government formally introduced a new concept to the country—the creation of national parks. A year later, the Chinese government partnered with the University of Utah. Since then, delegations from Qinghai and Sichuan have participated in training to learn more about Utah’s national parks and public land policies in an effort to build its new program using best practices honed in the United States during the past nearly 150 years.

The U is working with multiple provinces in China to develop best practices for managing critical natural resources.

“China is excited to learn from the long history of national parks in the United States,” said Dingming An, professor at Qinghai Normal University. “We appreciate the opportunity to work with the University of Utah and look forward to developing a customized model that will allow our parks to thrive.”