Close to 1,000 ivory products worth more than 8 million yuan ($1.3 million) were among the seized goods.

"China is boosting efforts against wildlife trafficking, enforcing new laws and regulations, implementing a labeling system for ivory products and setting up a national coordination group," said Meng Xianlin, Executive Deputy Director of the Endangered Species Import and Export Management Office at a press conference in May.

To regulate trade in wildlife, China joined the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in 1981. The convention aims to prevent international trade from threatening the survival of wild flora and fauna. Today, it remains one of the world's most powerful tools for this purpose.

During the more than 30 years since joining the convention, China has actively fulfilled its responsibilities and participated in international cooperation, and played an important role in wildlife protection and trade regulation, said Secretary-General John E. Scanlon at the 16th meeting of the CITES' Conference of the Parties in Bangkok, Thailand, in March.

This year marks the 40th anniversary of the signing of CITES, which now covers approximately 5,000 species of animals and 29,000 species of plants.

After signing the convention, China has made significant progress in wildlife protection. In 1988, China's Law on the Protection of Wildlife went into effect. That year, the government made it illegal to slaughter or sell 256 species of wild animals.

Border patrol and customs officers actively clamp down on wildlife trafficking. In addition, the government has tackled the problem online.

In April, police officers shut down 628 websites engaged in wildlife trafficking, said the State Forestry Administration.

One case was resolved in Yancheng City in Jiangsu Province. The first clue was found by a customs officer in north China's Tianjin in January, who suspected the "toy model" in a parcel was animal remains. The parcel, sent from the United States, was addressed to a man surnamed Gu in Yancheng.

Then in March, the Tianjin Customs intercepted another parcel addressed to the same man, which seemed also to contain animal parts. The customs handed the two parcels to the State Forestry Administration for appraisal, which confirmed that the items were indeed animal parts.

Police traced Gu's online activities and discovered evidence that he sold animal products through the Internet to domestic collectors for a hefty profit. Gu was arrested.

Operation Cobra

China has also participated in international campaigns to combat the illicit wildlife trade. From January 6 to February 5, the country worked with 21 Asian and African countries to crack down on cross-border and intercontinental wildlife smuggling.

The operation, codenamed Cobra, focused on some key species that are subject to illegal wildlife trade such as Asian big cats, elephants, great apes, pangolins and rhinos.

China sent up to 10,000 wildlife, customs and police officers into the operation, cracking 80 cases and resulting in more than 90 arrests, accounting for more than one third of total cracked cases and arrested suspects, said Wan.

Wan added that during the operation, Chinese officers seized more than 200 kg of ivory and products, 10 rhino horns and four rhino horn products, nearly 50 kg of pangolin scales, 76 hornbills, and other CITES-listed species and parts or derivatives.

In addition to detecting and seizing contraband, Operation Cobra aimed at effectively conducting follow-up investigations and using specialized investigation techniques to pursue all possible leads to address the entire criminal chain, said Scanlon.

Operation Cobra provided an excellent opportunity for all authorities involved to exchange the ways and means of combating wildlife crime, and to establish new professional relationships with their counterparts from different agencies, countries and regions of the world, said Wan.

According to the official, Operation Cobra borrowed experiences from previous operations by the International Criminal Police Organization and the World Customs Organization. China chaired an International Coordination Team to coordinate operation teams at all regional and national levels.

Email us at: wanghairong@bjreview.com