BEIJING // China has imposed a one-year ban on ivory imports with immediate effect amid criticism that its citizens’ huge appetite for the resource has fuelled poaching that threatens the existence of African elephants.
It comes ahead of next week’s visit by Great Britain’s Prince William, who is a strong critic of the ivory trade.
The state administration of forestry declared the ban on Thursday in a public notice posted on its website, in which it said it would not handle any import requests.
The ban will affect carvings acquired after 1975.
An unnamed forestry official told the state-run Legal Evening News that authorities hoped the ban would be a concrete step to reducing the demand for African tusks and to protect wild elephants.
The official said the temporary ban would allow authorities to evaluate its effect on elephant protection before they could take further, more effective steps.
China is the world’s largest importer of smuggled tusks, although Beijing has campaigned against illegal ivory. Six tons of illegal ivory was pulverised last year in the southern city of Dongguan, and Chinese courts have stepped up prosecution of illegal ivory trade.
The government has also warned its citizens not to bring any ivory into the country, but critics say the public awareness campaign is inadequate as many Chinese do not know that tusks can only obtained by killing the elephant.
Over 20,000 African elephants were killed for ivory in 2013, a Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species monitoring programme showed, leaving a population believed to be around 500,000.
China signed a pact banning global trade in ivory in 1981, but received an exemption in 2008 to buy 62 tonnes of ivory from several African nations. It releases a portion of that stockpile each year to government-licensed ivory carving factories.
Since China acquired this legal stockpile, demand for ivory has surged among increasingly affluent Chinese who see it as a status-defining luxury – and high profits have fuelled a strong underground market.
Wildlife protection advocates welcomed the temporary ban on imports but said it fell short of addressing a root issue in China: its large stockpile of legal ivory that provides for a legitimate domestic market.
“This domestic ivory market confuses consumers, removes stigma about ivory consumption, provides cover for criminals to smuggle ivory, hinders law enforcement and stimulates poaching of elephants,” said Grace Ge Gabriel, Asia regional director for the International Fund for Animal Welfare.
Environmental Investigation Agency, which issued a scathing report suggesting Chinese government officials were involved in the procurement of illegal ivory in Africa, called the announcement “window dressing”.
“It is unfortunate that [Chinese authorities have] not announced a much-needed policy change by banning all domestic trade in ivory,” said Shruti Suresh, a wildlife campaigner for the agency.
“This is the policy change that could actually make a difference for elephants in Africa.”
* Associated Press and Reuters
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Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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Rating: 3/5
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Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
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Cricket World Cup League 2
UAE squad
Rahul Chopra (captain), Aayan Afzal Khan, Ali Naseer, Aryansh Sharma, Basil Hameed, Dhruv Parashar, Junaid Siddique, Muhammad Farooq, Muhammad Jawadullah, Muhammad Waseem, Omid Rahman, Rahul Bhatia, Tanish Suri, Vishnu Sukumaran, Vriitya Aravind
Fixtures
Friday, November 1 – Oman v UAE
Sunday, November 3 – UAE v Netherlands
Thursday, November 7 – UAE v Oman
Saturday, November 9 – Netherlands v UAE
COMPANY PROFILE
● Company: Bidzi
● Started: 2024
● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid
● Based: Dubai, UAE
● Industry: M&A
● Funding size: Bootstrapped
● No of employees: Nine
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Squad for first two ODIs
Kohli (c), Rohit, Dhawan, Rayudu, Pandey, Dhoni (wk), Pant, Jadeja, Chahal, Kuldeep, Khaleel, Shami, Thakur, Rahul.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
Scoreline
Al Wasl 1 (Caio Canedo 90 1')
Al Ain 2 (Ismail Ahmed 3', Marcus Berg 50')
Red cards: Ismail Ahmed (Al Ain) 77'
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
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ADCC AFC Women’s Champions League Group A fixtures
October 3: v Wuhan Jiangda Women’s FC
October 6: v Hyundai Steel Red Angels Women’s FC
October 9: v Sabah FA
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Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
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COMPANY PROFILE
Initial investment: Undisclosed
Investment stage: Series A
Investors: Core42
Current number of staff: 47
THE%20HOLDOVERS
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RESULTS
Bantamweight: Victor Nunes (BRA) beat Azizbek Satibaldiev (KYG). Round 1 KO
Featherweight: Izzeddin Farhan (JOR) beat Ozodbek Azimov (UZB). Round 1 rear naked choke
Middleweight: Zaakir Badat (RSA) beat Ercin Sirin (TUR). Round 1 triangle choke
Featherweight: Ali Alqaisi (JOR) beat Furkatbek Yokubov (UZB). Round 1 TKO
Featherweight: Abu Muslim Alikhanov (RUS) beat Atabek Abdimitalipov (KYG). Unanimous decision
Catchweight 74kg: Mirafzal Akhtamov (UZB) beat Marcos Costa (BRA). Split decision
Welterweight: Andre Fialho (POR) beat Sang Hoon-yu (KOR). Round 1 TKO
Lightweight: John Mitchell (IRE) beat Arbi Emiev (RUS). Round 2 RSC (deep cuts)
Middleweight: Gianni Melillo (ITA) beat Mohammed Karaki (LEB)
Welterweight: Handesson Ferreira (BRA) beat Amiran Gogoladze (GEO). Unanimous decision
Flyweight (Female): Carolina Jimenez (VEN) beat Lucrezia Ria (ITA), Round 1 rear naked choke
Welterweight: Daniel Skibinski (POL) beat Acoidan Duque (ESP). Round 3 TKO
Lightweight: Martun Mezhlumyan (ARM) beat Attila Korkmaz (TUR). Unanimous decision
Bantamweight: Ray Borg (USA) beat Jesse Arnett (CAN). Unanimous decision
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COMPANY%20PROFILE%20
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Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
