Purpose The concept of "national cultural park" is initiated by China. As a new type of park, national cultural parks focus on the protection and utilization of cultural relics and cultural resources, aim to create important signs and logos of Chinese culture so are of great significance for the "paradigmatic" international communication and localization practice of Chinese heritage discourse. Systematic review and research are conducive to the construction of the theoretical system for and the construction and protection planning of national cultural parks.

Methods Based on data sorting of policy documents, construction plans, construction protection plans, and literature tracking of academic research related to national cultural parks, this research summarizes the connotative characteristics, practical progress and theoretical exploration of national cultural parks in China.

Results 1) National cultural parks reflect the connotative essence of the clustered protection of cultural resources from local dispersion to regional integration, and present the conceptual characteristic of nationalization, localization and park orientation. Clustered protection is mainly manifested in two aspects: cultural resources and protection methods. On the basis of clustered protection, the "nationalization" of national cultural parks is reflected in the strategic goal of the national will, the image positioning of Chinese symbols, and the organizational guarantee of central planning; "localization" is reflected in the local characteristics of differentiation and complementation, the local development with value spillover, and the local support for implementation practice; "park orientation" is reflected in the popularity of service subject and the openness of spatial structure. 2) The construction of national cultural parks is supposed to be conducted by carrier, province and section following the logic of extending from macro control to micro refinement, and from central planning to local implementation so as to form a comprehensive resource identification method based on the characteristics of nationalization and localization, a general spatial layout and specific layout of main functional areas based on resource attributes, protection and development, and a guarantee for basic projects and relevant systems and mechanisms in key areas based on construction, management and operation. The identification of resources highlights national representative and local cultural resources, and gives consideration to national ecological restoration and historical environmental protection of natural resources; the general layout is based on the spatial distribution of cultural resources and relies on the administrative boundary for boundary framing and segmented control; the main functions are divided into four categories: control protection area, theme exhibition area, cultural and tourism integration area, and traditional utilization area; the basic projects in key areas are divided into five essential projects: protection and inheritance, research and excavation, environmental support, cultural and tourism integration, and digital reproduction. In terms of the system and mechanism guarantee, a construction mode of "general planning and coordination-joint implementation-unified acceptance" has been formed, which entails top-level design by the central government and specific implementation by local governments. 3) The theoretical exploration of national cultural parks mainly focuses on the expansion of multiple carriers, the supplement of characteristic resources, the balancing of development, the delimitation of boundary, the improvement of cross-regional coordination, and the perfection of laws and regulations. Scholars suggest that carriers should cover the material and intangible cultural heritage in the form of dot, line and plane, and form a macrosystem with banded structure and a certain geographical space. Scholars proposed that resource identification should form an all-inclusive multi-level system composed of the ontology elements and surrounding environment of cultural heritage. In addition, scholars also propose strategies against the problems of unbalanced development, unclear boundary, product homogeneity, unstable management mechanism, lagging construction of the team of management talents, insufficient guarantee for financial funds, ineffective cross-regional coordination mechanism, and imperfect laws and regulations in construction practice.

Conclusion The construction of national cultural parks in China has formed preliminary theoretical and practical achievements, but there still remains room for in-depth theoretical research and practical innovation in three aspects: standardization of relevant laws and regulations, integration of spatial boundary, and protection, inheritance and innovation. In terms of the standardization of laws and regulations, it is supposed to, based on the reference of existing laws and regulations on national parks, formulate and improve relevant laws and regulations to clarify the requirements for resource identification, spatial delimitation and management and control of national cultural parks as soon as possible. In terms of the integration of spatial boundary, scholars and practice departments should integrate existing boundaries and existing requirements for management and control of cultural and natural resources, follow the protection and development goals of the four main functional areas of national cultural parks, consider the control of land space planning, and carry out theoretical research and practical exploration on boundary delimitation for resource identification, and on management and control requirements and integration methods. In terms of protection, inheritance and innovation, it is necessary to, from the perspective of cultural and tourist integration, clarify how to strengthen such approaches and methods as cultural interpretation, participation, experience, education and training in combination with local characteristics, to highlight the localization and park orientation of national cultural parks.