Footprints left by a wild Siberian tiger in a forestry farm in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang found on October 23, 2016. [Photo provided by Heilongjiang Provincial Department of Forestry]

China confirms a plan to build a national park in its northeast provinces to protect endangered Serbian Tigers and Amur Leopards.

Xu Shaoshi, head of the National Development and Reform Commission, announced the park will cover parts of both Jilin and Heilongjiang provinces and is waiting for the final approval.

However, to ensure the ecological balance in the national park and people's safety, forest factories and some residents will have to relocate, added Xu.

The massive park is said to have been on the table of the Chinese government since 2013.

Siberian tigers born in captivity play at the Siberian Tiger Park in Hengdaohezi Township of Hailin City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. [Photo: Xinhua]

An earlier report in Science said that the park could cover an area of 15,000 square meters, 60 percent larger than the Yellow Stone national park in the U.S..

Some 30,000 staff would be working in the park, said the report.

There are currently 27 wild Serbian Tigers and 42 Amur Leopards in the province of Jinlin according to an investigation in 2014.

The numbers jumped from 12 tigers and 7 leopards seen in China in 1999.

Wild Serbian Tigers and Amur Leopards are endangered due to the damage of forest and illegal hunting.

People have been banned from cutting trees in the two provinces since 2013.

The official also announced another national park for Tibetan antelopes in the northwestern Qinghai province, the construction of which is now underway.