Eco-environment is the foundation of the survival and development of human society, and construction of ecological civilization is a millennium plan for the sustainable development of China. With the development of environmental protection and ecological civilization system, ecological protection policy and system have changed significantly. This paper analyzes the development process and evolution characteristics of China's ecological protection policy from three aspects: basic national policy, change of ecological protection concept, development of policy and system, through extensive collecting and investigating the major decisions, important conferences, policies and regulations that published by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, the State Council and national ministries. Saving resources and protecting environment are the basic national policy, which is the foundation of ecological protection policy. Firstly, in the initial stage, ecological protection was taken as the component of development plan of economy and society. Secondly, in the sustainable development stage, ecological protection was taken as the inherent requirement of the civilized development. Thirdly, in the ecological civilization stage, human and nature was taken as a community of life. All these changes in the concept of ecological protection are the most fundamental and the most fundamental policy of ecological protection, and play a decisive role in the formation of eco-friendly economic development policies and the transformation and utilization of natural behaviors. The four categories of policy and system of ecological protection mainly includes macro comprehensive, spatial protection, environmental economy and accountability. They are the practice of ecological protection concept that is based on the objective judgment of China's basic national conditions at that time, and play a key role in promoting the development of ecological protection, ensuring the national ecological security and high-quality development of social economy.