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Chinese in Kenya not involved in ivory poaching

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-09-08 07:26

The country is home to 20 to 30 ivory processing companies and more than 100 designated sales places, he said.

But Wan stressed China has cracked down on the illegal trade of ivory with great effort and has strictly followed international conventions. Last July, China became the second legal importer of Ivory after Japan, according to the committee of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Related readings:  New caterpillar plague hits Liberia, spreads to Ivory Coast  About 47 tons of ivory auctioned in South Africa  UN gives nod to ivory imports  UN body allows China to import ivory from Africa

In China, laws prohibit transporting elephant ivory and perpetrators can be punished by up to 12 years in jail.

In August, Guangzhou Customs seized two passengers from Ethiopia carrying 8 kg of ivory products, marking the 139th and 140th ivory smuggling cases at Guangzhou customs this year.

By August, Baiyun airport customs in Guangzhou had seized 138 cases of ivory smuggling, totaling more than 182 kg, up by 90 percent year on year.

The 8 million yuan of seized ivory, including bangles, bracelet, sculptures, pen vase and chess, all came from African countries, the custom said.

Kunming seized Asian ivory of 36 kilograms worth 7.75 million yuan last December.

The court sentenced smugglers Wang Jinkai and Wang Jinfu to 12 years in jail and a fine of 12,000 yuan.

Ivory imports banned

Xu Hongfa, director of the World Wildlife Fund's (WWF) TRAFFIC East Asia China Program said many Chinese working in Kenya are not aware that they should not take ivory back to China, despite government calls for banning ivory imports.

"So far WWF has not received any reports or evidence to accuse Chinese workers as the main driving force to the rising elephant poaching," he said.

"In Kenya, ivory can be sold at local markets," he said. "When Chinese workers brought it back, they did not know they were violating the law."

Xiong Lei, a Chinese who traveled to Kenya last month, said tourists were told many times by their tourist guide "absolutely no purchasing of any ivory in Kenya".

She said shop owners told her the ivory-like products on the shelves are "bones", not ivory.

"But we did not even dare to buy any bone products," she said.

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