The ratio of Chinas nature reserves to the size of the country has reached the level of developed countries, whereas some problems, such as classification, function, management and administration exist. One of the major problems is the disproportional level of reserve construction among different administrative regions. Customary area evaluating systems are directly related to the amount and total area of a reserve that can not reflect the construction and management situation and the environmental protection challenge faced by a reserve.
Five factors, namely, number, size, habitat fragmentation, population pressure and economic dispatch pressure derived from the overall analysis of the current situation of Chinas nature reserves were used to establish the area evaluation model. The parameters of the evaluation model were index of stress (IP), index of state (IS) and index of protection requirement (CI). The model reported here brought forward the effectiveness weight coefficient of nature reserves to balance the impact of different features and management level of nature reserves. The model colligating the essentials of ecology, management, society and economy, was used for evaluating the development conditions of nature reserves in different regions. This model with its neat and perspicuous structure not only reflected the actualities of nature reserves but also indicated the main problems facing reserve construction in future. Overall, the model could be employed for static construction evaluation among different nature reserves in a certain area. After that, this model was applied to evaluate the developmental situation of nature reserves in various provinces and districts in mainland China. The results showed that Chinas nature reserves in the west were well-protected, for example, as shown by ISNorthwest China =10.82. However, the situation was relatively worse in economically-developed eastern provinces. In particular, the index of protective requirement of East China was lower than the nationwide level (ISeast China=4.82 versus ISnationwide=6.50). At the same time, the western provinces were facing even greater potential stress (IPeast China=10.99 versus IPnationwide=9.21). Based on this study, following suggestions were made: (1) Construction programs of nature reserves should be adjusted in western, central ad southern China. Also, investment should be increased and management should be improved. (2) More attention should be paid to the impact of economic activities on the management and function of nature reserves.