Shanghai’s Chenshan Botanical Garden Elevated to National Status
China has officially approved the establishment of Shanghai Chenshan National Botanical Garden, elevating the city’s premier botanical institution to national-level status and making it the third national botanical garden in the country. The State Council issued its formal approval via Document No. 58 of 2026 on June 29, with the decision made public on July 2, according to The Paper.
The upgrade transforms Chenshan from a municipal urban garden into a nationally mandated institution tasked with plant conservation, scientific research, and public education at the highest level.
Filling the East China Conservation Gap
The new designation fills a critical void in China’s national botanical garden system. Prior to Chenshan’s elevation, only two national botanical gardens existed: Beijing National Botanical Garden (established 2022), which focuses on temperate northern China flora, and South China National Botanical Garden in Guangzhou (established 2022), which specializes in tropical and subtropical species. East China — a region of immense economic importance and rich biodiversity — lacked a dedicated national-level plant conservation hub.
As the State Council’s official reply outlines, Chenshan’s two core national missions are the ex-situ conservation of rare and endangered wild plants in East China and the development and utilization of important economic plant resources. The garden aims to achieve ex-situ protection coverage for 90% of East China’s key protected wild plants.
This creates what officials describe as a complementary national botanical garden matrix: “North has Beijing, South has South China, East has Chenshan.”
From City Garden to National Mission
The shift from local to national status represents a fundamental change in the garden’s purpose. “The shift from local positioning to national mission is the most core change of this upgrade,” wrote Shen Bin, lead commentator at The Paper. Previously, Chenshan focused on urban horticulture, public recreation, and science education for Shanghai residents. Now, its mandate expands to species conservation, germplasm reserves, and national-level scientific research.
Chenshan currently holds over 18,000 accessions of living plant germplasm and operates a seed cold storage facility with a capacity exceeding 100 million seeds — resources that will now serve as a dedicated “Noah’s Ark” for East China’s wild plant species.
A Unique City-Academy Partnership
The garden’s elevation was enabled by its distinctive governance model: co-management by the Shanghai Municipal People’s Government and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). This city-academy cooperation framework has allowed Chenshan to build a complete chain from germplasm resources to basic research to industrial application.
Over the years, Chenshan has established a national wild plant germplasm resource bank and a provincial-level key laboratory for resource plants. Its researchers have published groundbreaking work, including CoQ10-enriched rice germplasm in the journal Cell, and have cultivated over 100 proprietary new varieties of lotus, camellia, hibiscus, and other ornamental plants.
As QQ News reported, the upgraded status will enable Chenshan to apply for central ecological special funds and national key R&D programs, facilitating cross-regional scientific collaboration with research institutes across Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Anhui provinces.
A Model for Mega-City Biodiversity
Shanghai, a global megacity of over 24 million residents, presents a unique case study for balancing high-density urban development with biodiversity conservation. Chenshan’s success could provide a replicable model for other megacities worldwide.
The State Council’s reply explicitly links Chenshan to multiple national strategies, including the Yangtze River Economic Belt development, the Yangtze River Delta Integration strategy, and China’s broader Ecological Civilization construction framework. The garden is also tasked with integrating plant knowledge with garden culture to “tell China’s plant stories well” and highlight the charm of Chinese culture and biodiversity.
A Milestone in a Broader Vision
Chenshan’s elevation is part of a larger national strategy. According to the National Botanical Garden System Layout Plan, China aims to establish approximately 10 national botanical gardens by 2035, following the principle of “mature one, establish one.” Chenshan completed all creation-phase work and passed conformity assessment and expert review in 2024.
The garden’s journey reflects a remarkable transformation. Originally a century-old former mining quarry, the 207-hectare site in Songjiang District has been transformed into an award-winning botanical destination featuring a renowned Mining Garden, a tropical greenhouse complex, and collections of over 14,625 plant species. It already attracts approximately 1.8 million visitors annually and serves as a national primary and secondary school study base.
What to Watch For
As Chenshan transitions to its new national role, several developments bear watching: the timeline for physical rebranding and infrastructure upgrades, the specific rare and endangered East China species prioritized for conservation, and how the garden coordinates with existing nature reserves and in-situ conservation efforts across the Yangtze River Delta region. With its upgraded mandate and resources, Chenshan National Botanical Garden is poised to become a cornerstone of China’s biodiversity protection framework for decades to come.