Abstract: Formulation of riparian zone protection and utilization planning is an important task of river and lake management.We studied the current achievements in the formulation of riparian zone protection and utilization planning, and explored key issues such as the delineation of riparian zone boundaries, the division of riparian zone functional areas, and the statistics of riparian zone length through comparison and validation, example demonstration, theoretical analysis and expert consultation.Compared with the relevant content of the Guidelines for the Formulation of Riparian Zone Protection and Utilization Planning(Trial),we sorted out the practices of various regions and analyzed their advantages and disadvantages.On this basis, the principles and solutions for the key issues in the formulation of riparian zone planning were proposed in this paper.The results indicated that to better promote the formulation of riparian zone protection and utilization planning, the definition of riparian zone should be clearly defined by laws.Higher-level institutions should be authorized to carry out the planning.Riparian zone boundaries and the division of riparian zone functional areas should be divided according to local conditions.In the meanwhile, the riparian zone utilization length should be reasonably measured.