China has expanded an interdepartmental project to better fight against the illegal trade of wildlife, according to the second conference of this project on Friday.

Photo: VCG

This interdepartmental project was launched in 2016, aiming to enhance the interactions among various departments and form a joint force to combat the illegal trade of wild animals and plants. The mechanism has been expanded from 22 central government departments to 25, with newly joined members such as the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine and the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Protecting wildlife and combating wildlife trade is an important part of strengthening ecological progress, and is a hot issue which draws attention from around the world. In the past two years, these departments have established and improved a long-term interdepartmental linkage mechanism, improved coordination mechanism and expanded international cooperation, among which the campaign against ivory trade is the most profound one.

Zhang Jianlong, head of the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, said at Friday’s meeting that great progress has been made over the past few years, while taking into consideration how sensitive this issue is, the project entails closer cooperation and wider public consciousness.

During the conference, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, Ministry of Public Security, the General Administration of Customs and others decided on 24 key actions this year, including launching a nationwide campaign to combat illegal hunting, killing and selling of wildlife and wildlife products, and the "Blue Sky 2019" campaign to combat ivory and other specific wildlife smuggling.

(Compiled by Yu Kaili)