The preserve, initially named Qomolangma Nature Preserve, was created on March 18, 1989 at the Tibet regional level. Support from then Governor of Tibet, Hu Jintao, was instrumental in shaping the community-based management design summarized below and also pushing through the landscape level size (in 1983, QNP was the largest nature reserve in Asia). In 1993, the State Council of the People's Republic of China elevated its protection to the national level and the QNP became QNNP.