Eco-industrial parks provide a profound approach to promote upgrading of industrial structures and full transformation of the development concept of industrial parks. It is also one important support of ecological civilization construction. The development progress of eco-industrial parks was reviewed, which is divided into three phases, i.e. the systematic exploratory stage, the pilot stage, and the new stage of eco-civilization construction. The types of eco-industrial parks, their regional distributions and the distribution of different types of eco-industrial parks were analyzed, displaying obvious difference among different regions or different types. Also, the characteristics and experience of eco-industrial parks construction in eastern, central and western China were reviewed. Several policy recommendations were put forward aiming at the problem of imbalance of development of the eco-industrial parks among different regions and types.