China encourages countries to cooperate to combat illegal wildlife trade and environmental degradation

A senior official of the body that regulates China's forestry says African governments should work together to regulate Chinese companies operating in their forestry and extractive sectors to limit the illegal wildlife trade and environmental degradation.

Wang Chunfeng, deputy director-general of the department of international cooperation at China's State Forestry Administration, said that to complement the significant strides that China has made in such areas, African countries must also establish stringent regulations.

"The countries where our Chinese companies have investments should strengthen their regulations and give more information about the companies to our government," Wang said in Beijing on September 26. "Our government will be strict and regulate them, based on information communicated to our country."

He also called on African countries to take action to punish Chinese enterprises accused of trading in illegal wildlife or causing environmental degradation, while also encouraging governments to ensure logging is done at a sustainable level.

China has already imposed regulations on companies investing in Africa's extractive sector, he said.

Some of these encourage enterprises to uphold "green standards" before being allowed to acquire loans from Chinese banks.

This means that companies operating outside China must protect the environment and respect the local people, Wang said.

He said Chinese government agencies have created a "blacklist" of companies involved in illegal activities.

"Since the start of this year, the Chinese government has started reviewing regulations for overseas companies and has begun to draw up new regulations," Wang said, adding that the new measures will help encourage an "ecologically friendly environment".

According to the State Forestry Administration, the Chinese government has improved its cooperation with Africa in wildlife conservation, providing technical and material support to several countries' nature conservation initiatives to help combat illegal activities.

In 2014, to support Africa's wildlife conservation initiatives, Premier Li Keqiang announced material and technical support worth $10 million.

There have also been frequent exchanges of knowledge and experience between the continent and China in an effort to deal with the problem, the SFA said.

China currently has agreements with Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa to provide support to the three countries in enhancing their wildlife law enforcement.

However, the SFA has encouraged African countries that want to broaden their cooperation on dealing with wildlife conservation issues to make a request to the Chinese government for extended partnership.

In December 2016, China announced that it would shut down its ivory carving factories before the end of 2017 - a move expected to curb the poaching and killing of elephants in Africa.

The country has also made amendments to its conservation laws, especially regarding the purchase of illegal wildlife. The laws specify severe punishment for those involved in smuggling or illegally purchasing wildlife.

China's legal framework to protect its natural assets started in the 1950s, when the country introduced a law that has resulted in the preservation of 147 million hectares of land, covering a wide variety of environments.

The country has launched rigid law enforcement policies for the monitoring of ports, railways and markets, and also checks the internet for illegal trade.

Once illegal activity is suspected, action is taken, the SFA says.

"Tech companies have a role to play. We do tracking to locate, find and stop illegal trading online," said Wang Li, public relations manager for Tencent. "We have shut down a lot of traders and make their trafficking difficult."

Wang Li told African journalists in Beijing that online trafficking has dropped in China, with data from the SFA showing a significant decrease in illegal wildlife activity in the country.

For China Daily

(China Daily Africa Weekly 10/13/2017 page3)