Centering on the principal policies enacted by Chinese government during the execution of the Natural Forest Protection Program（NFPP）, this research applies the analytical framework of the policy system from public policy science to analyze the policy environment, subjects, objects, measures, instruments, and their progression through successive phases of natural forest protection. The research uncovers that China's policy environment for protecting natural forests is marked by a coexistence of advantageous and disadvantageous elements. The policies are designed to govern both the forests and the human stakeholders, targeting entities with both ecological and societal characteristics. The policy subjects manifest as multi-sectoral and multi-stakeholder. Policy measures have evolved through stages of regional logging cessation, to prohibition, restriction, and wood production reduction in key areas to more rigorous protection and complete logging ban, shifting from a focus on forest protection to a balanced strategy incorporating conservation and cultivation, and from a predominantly quantitative emphasis to one that values both quantity and quality equally. Regarding policy instruments, fiscal, administrative, financial, and taxation are routinely employed; however, the exploration and utilization of legislative, market-driven, and social policy instruments remain inadequately tapped. This study posits that China's endeavor in natural forest protection embodies a sophisticated policy ecosystem that intertwines "ecological-environmental" and "socio-economic" facets. During the era of comprehensive natural forest protection, enhancements to the policy system are imperative through: persistently refining the policy environment; enhancing the pertinence of policy targets for pinpoint conservation and restoration efforts; reinforcing collaboration among the multiplicity of policy subjects; instituting measures with an overriding emphasis on quality improvement; expanding the range of policy instruments; and optimizing the evaluation and supervision of subsystems.