Abstract: China is in a critical period of reforming the system of protected areas, there is an urgent need to optimize the planning system of protected areas. The analysis of evolution, characteristics, and trends of the general management plans of protected areas globally can provide reference to the establishment of China’s natural protected area planning system. The analysis was focused on the evolution from “master plan” to “general management plan”. Based on the analysis of planning practices in other countries, the general management plan was characterized in four aspects: 1) the planning system has a prominent position and serves as a connection between the preceding and the following plans; 2) Emphasizes on value elaboration, target setting, area-based decision making, and monitoring and feedbacking; 3) Undergoes different paradigms and continuous development; 4) Features science-driven and disciplinary-integration. In the future, the general management planning of protected areas will show the following development trends that emphasize on both the structure and flexibility, highlghting systematicness and scientificity, reflecting co-existence of integration and pertinence.