BBC Chinese recently reported that the Chinese government announced it will ban ivory trading before the end of the year 2017. Animal protection organizations recognized this decision as “historic.” The Chinese State Council put in place the regulations for a phased approach to the discontinuation of the sales of ivory-based products as well as the business of manufacturing them. Currently China is the largest ivory market in the world. Seventy percent of the world’s ivory products have China as the intended final destination. The price of ivory In China is US$1,100 per kilogram. In China today 34 companies are authorized ivory manufacturers and 143 are authorized retail stations. A recent study on African elephants showed that, in the last seven years, the elephant population there shrank by one third. Both the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) indicated that the Chinese decision will make a major contribution to saving elephants, which are an endangered species.
Source: BBC Chinese, December 30, 2016
http://www.bbc.com/zhongwen/simp/chinese-news-38473312