As the foundation for the sustainable development of human society, natural capital encompasses tangible natural resources as stocks (such as land and water) and ecosystem services as flows. Ecologically oriented development (EOD) and the Value of ecosystem products in specific geographic units (VEP) represent institutional innovations for the governance of natural capital. They seek to achieve coordinated development of regional ecology, society, and economy through sustainable utilization of flows and conservation of stocks. Internationally, similar EOD modes in developed countries exhibited significant autonomy, innovation, and diversity in their industrial and organizational structures, operating under pro-market institutional conditions. While China's current EOD and VEP practices had generated extensive experience, they have also exposed numerous challenges. However, existing research was too fragmented to systematically identify these issues or support effective decision-making. Building on a re-examination of the concepts and theoretical logic of EOD and VEP, this paper conducted a structured analysis of 10 domestic and international case studies. Within the context of natural capital governance, this study explored the functional mechanisms of EOD and VEP and their points of connection and synergy. Key issues include an incomplete regulatory system with blurred accountability, weak links between ecological governance and industrial development, over-reliance on fiscal financing, and the absence of mechanisms for engaging private capital. In response, this study identifies six major risks in domestic EOD practice: hidden local debt due to unviable project returns, lack of institutional safeguards and public participation, mismatches between planning complexity and local capacity, high long-term operational risks, misaligned incentives among stakeholders, and disconnects between VEP valuation and practical implementation. The findings suggest that a systemic approach is required to overcome these barriers. VEP shows strong potential to address several EOD shortcomings through its structured accounting framework, which supports pre-project ecological and financial risk assessment, improves transparency, facilitates green finance innovations, and helps align incentives across parties. Nevertheless, challenges remain in translating VEP metrics into market demand and capturing stock-based value increments (e.g., land appreciation).Future efforts should prioritize the establishment of digital infrastructure to enhance asset transparency and de-risk investments, the institutionalization of evaluation and feedback mechanisms to enable adaptive management and ensure long-term project sustainability, and diversification of governance modes to engage multiple stakeholders and improve project resilience. By clarifying these pathways, the research not only enriched the theoretical study of natural capital but also provided a more inclusive framework to support strategic decision-making and sustainable management practices in the field.