Biodiversity provides numerous essential services to humanity. But in past few decades, a large number of species have become increasingly threatened by anthropogenic disturbances. The current rates of extinction are estimated to be 100-1000 times greater than pre-human rates. In order to decrease the biodiversity loss rate and maximize the limited protection resources in key biodiversity areas, Margules raised the idea of Systematic Conservation Planning (SCP). It was widely used in conservation planning. In contrast to traditional method of conservation planning by expert decision, quantitative conservation targets, costs synthesized network connectivity, human disturbances and optimal algorithm were considered in SCP for obtaining a spatial-explicit conservation system. After analysis of planning theory, procedure, methods and review of existing SCP tools, four key issues in SCP research were summarized. The first issue is biodiversity indicators selection which means biodiversity mapping or quantification at genes, species, and ecosystems level to generates a biodiversity distribution matrix. It was demonstrated, at large scale, that quantification of biodiversity importance for species and ecosystems are more suitable than genes method, especially for a combination of species and ecosystems. The second is the estimation of cost that can be calculated in monetary and non-monetary terms. Many methods of cost quantification were reviewed in these paper and it indicated that conservation cost should not only incorporates socioeconomic data, but also biological features. The most important destination of SCP is to achieve some minimum representation of biodiversity features for the smallest possible cost by optimization. So an explicit conservation target is required. However, obtaining a rational target depends largely on the experiences of the experts who are forming these targets and that will inevitable bring about bias due to poor knowledge of the area and taxa. Our review suggests that a convictive method should take both static and dynamic factors into account and to construct heterogeneity target for different conservation feature(ecosystem services, vulnerability, e.g.) as the target in SCP is worthy of further study. Once outcomes of SCP were generated from mathematical algorithm, the reliability and performability are still indeterminacy. Therefore, as the fourth key issue, how to evaluate result and error from SCP are given in our context. Summing up these issues, its foreground for further application in China was also analyzed under current biodiversity situation. Distinctly, Chinese scientists need to realize that the development of ecological productive mode in China have failed to keep pace with rapid economic development. In the face of heterogeneous land use pattern, target function should take various context into consideration during planning procedure. In addition, the expropriation for biodiversity conservation means that the government expropriate land of rural collective economy organization because of dual system of state ownership and collective ownership. For this reason, the estimation of conservation opportunity cost is more meaningful than land purchase cost. This paper, therefore, by reviewing a large amount of past literatures, makes a summary and a commentary on the theory, work frame and key topics on SCP that might promote the conservation of biodiversity and ecosystems in China in the future.