Abstract:UNESCO Global Geoparks are areas with international significance geosites and sustainable management under a new mechanism. Based on this important international cooperation mechanism, China has successfully applied for 39 Global Geoparks in the past 15 years, and become the country with the largest number of Global Geoparks in the world. Through a series of objective data, this paper analyses the types, tectonic and rock characteristics and distribution characteristics of Global Geoparks in China, summarizes the current development achievements, advantages and disadvantages, and discusses the future development expectations. As a whole, Global Geoparks in China contain abundant types of geosites, which originate from rocks, structures, fossils, glaciers, lakes and marshes. According to the geomorphological characteristics of the core geosites, the existing Global Geoparks in China can be divided into 6 types: steep mountain—piedmont type, low mountain type, desert type, coastal type, lake—marsh type and cave type. In addition, Global Geoparks are widely distributed and include abundant regional types. 64% of provincial administrative regions have established Global Geoparks. These series of achievements are inseparable from the advantages of vast territory, numerous world- class brands, deep research foundation of geoparks, high participation of aborigines, and strong support from the state and local governments. But through the analysis with different zoning modes, the unbalanced development of geoparks construction has also been exposed. There are far more geoparks in the east than in the west, which is related to population density. The built geoparks also gradually have some management problems. For these problems, this paper explores the root and influencing factors, and holds that natural conditions and the speed of economic development are the main factors influencing the current pattern of geoparks. Then this paper summarizes the most important problems in the management of the geoparks, and puts forward some countermeasures. Finally, according to application of geoparks, especially the geoparks in the west of China, the paper puts forward 4 possible beneficial directions.