Video
10.11.17The Town at the Heart of China’s Black Market in Ivory
from Environmental Investigation Agency
Last year, in response to mounting criticism for its key role in the steep decline in the world’s elephant population, China announced that it would ban ivory trading and shutter all of the country’s 177 licensed ivory processing companies and...
The China Africa Project
10.04.17North Korea’s Diplomats in Africa Are Making Big Money Selling Ivory to Chinese Consumers
The tightening of international sanctions against North Korea is helping to fuel the illicit ivory trade in Africa as the increasingly isolated country searches for new ways to generate revenue, according to a new report from the Global Initiative...
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08.29.17Under Pressure: The Story behind China’s Ivory Ban
Guardian
For years Chinese government officials were followed around the world, at every meeting, by a single issue: the scores of dead elephants across Africa, and the international community that blamed China for this “ivory “holocaust”.
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07.18.17Despite Ban, Rhino Horn Flooding Black Markets across China
National Geographic
The country is pledged to end the trade in elephant ivory this year, but will it take steps to help save rhinos?
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03.29.17Good News for Africa’s Elephants: China Is Losing Its Taste for Ivory
Washington Post
China will close 67 ivory carving factories and retail shops on Friday, roughly one-third of the total, as it moves to implement a pledge to end all domestic ivory sales by the end of the year.
The China Africa Project
03.21.17Donkey Skin Is the New Ivory
Countries throughout Africa are struggling to figure out how to contain the skyrocketing price of donkeys due to surging demand for the animals in China. Donkey skin is fast becoming an increasingly prized commodity due to its use in a traditional...
The China Africa Project
01.10.172016 China-Africa Year in Review
After years of relatively trouble-free development, 2016 marked a turning point in the China-Africa relationship, amid turbulent changes in the global economic and political order. China increased its deployment of combat troops to the continent,...
Conversation
01.10.17Can Beijing’s Ivory Ban Save the Elephants?
On New Year’s Eve, Beijing announced it will ban the ivory trade in China, potentially shutting down the world’s biggest ivory market. Why did Beijing decide to curb the ivory trade? Will it put enough muscle behind it to enforce the decision? What...
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12.13.16China to Set Date to Close Ivory Factories
Guardian
Preparation is under way in China to bring in a ban on their domestic ivory trade, following a promise made with the US earlier this year
The China Africa Project
12.09.16Does One Man in China Control the Fate of Africa’s Elephants?
In the powerful new Netflix documentary The Ivory Game, Elephant Action League Executive Director Andrea Crosta ominously warned that the entire fate of Africa’s elephants is in the hands of a single man, Chinese President Xi Jinping. Only President...
The China Africa Project
06.30.16Namibia’s Chinese Ivory Smugglers
Namibia is the rare country in Africa that seems to be holding its own against ivory poachers. Whereas in most other southern African countries the elephant population is being decimated, in Namibia, according to the government, the number of...
Environment
06.09.16Namibia’s Secret Ivory Business
from chinadialogue
Many locals and wildlife conservation institutions I talked to didn’t even know about the existence of the ivory black market in Okahandja.It was a quiet evening in Zambezi, until a herdsman heard a gunshot in the wilderness. By the time the police...
The China Africa Project
02.19.16Why Reducing Ivory Demand in China Will Not Curb Poaching in Africa
“When the buying stops, the killing can too,” reads the popular slogan that WildAid uses in its anti-ivory campaign to raise awareness in China. WildAid, along with most Western environmentalists, contend that curbing demand in China for ivory is...
The China Africa Project
12.16.15‘China is Doing More to Protect Elephants than Africa [Is]’
For the first time in years, there is positive news to report in the fight to save Africa’s elephants from extinction. A new study by Save the Elephants revealed that the price of ivory in China has halved over the past 18 months, indicating that...
Green Space
12.16.15Ivory Price Has Halved, But No Celebration Yet
International NGOs such as Save the Elephants have shared the great news that the price of ivory has decreased by almost 50 percent over the past year and a half, thanks to successful campaigns by NGOs in educating the public, and also to...
Green Space
12.11.15Saving Elephants No Tall Order for Yao Ming
Chinese Internet giant Tencent teamed up with international NGO The Nature Conservancy to launch a campaign to promote December 2015 as Elephant Loving Month in China. The following animated short illustrates the toll human greed for ivory takes on...
Conversation
11.24.15The China Africa Relationship: Crossroads or Cliff?
As we approach the sixth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) Summit in Johannesburg, we try better to understand the main issues that surely will arise when Chinese President Xi Jinping and South African President Jacob Zuma meet on December 4...
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10.19.15Prince William to Give Ivory Trade Speech as China's President Xi Arrives
BBC
The Duke of Cambridge is to deliver a speech on the illegal ivory trade for broadcast on Chinese state TV.
The China Africa Project
09.15.15Growing Demand in China for Africa’s Lion Bones
Traditional Chinese medicine—popular throughout Asia—long has prized the supposed medicinal value of tiger bones. Now, though, as the world’s wild tiger population is disappearing fast, even facing extinction, the Chinese medicine industry may have...
The China Africa Project
07.14.15China’s Rapidly Changing Views on Wildlife Conservation in Africa
A dramatic shift in Chinese public opinion about animal welfare and global wildlife conservation appears to be underway. Supported by high-profile celebrity campaigns by NBA legend Yao Ming and actress Li Bing Bing, there is growing awareness in...
The China Africa Project
06.10.15China’s Proposed Ivory Ban: Breakthrough or B.S.?
China’s surprise announcement that it will phase out the trade and manufacturing of ivory came as a rare piece of good news for Africa’s rapidly shrinking elephant population. While most major international wildlife groups welcomed Beijing’s new...
The China Africa Project
04.02.15The Politics of Banning Ivory in China
In February 2015, China announced a one-year ban on ivory imports. While many conservation groups such as the Environmental Investigation Agency denounced Beijing’s policy as “ineffective,” the San Francisco-based group WildAid said the ban is an...
The China Africa Project
12.23.14China in Africa: 2014 Year in Review
Two thousand fourteen marked another landmark year in Sino-African relations as bilateral trade set new records while political, diplomatic, and military ties strengthened across the board. Yet despite the tangible progress made this year, this...
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12.08.14Prince William Attacks China over ‘Ignorant Craving’ for Ivory
Independent
According to excerpts of his speech released in advance, Prince William, who is due to go to China early next year, will say: “Some endangered species are now literally worth more than their weight in gold."
The China Africa Project
11.22.14Report: Chinese Diplomats & Officials Tied to Ivory Trade in Africa
A recent report by the U.K.-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) alleges Chinese diplomats and officials have been directly involved in the ivory trade in Africa. Most damaging, the EIA reports that even some members of visiting Chinese...
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08.20.14Can China Save Africa's Elephants?
Bloomberg
Poaching has not only reduced elephant populations, but it has also become unsustainable. The problem, beyond how many elephants are being killed, is the lack of surviving males in their prime years.
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03.15.13‘White Gold’ In China
New York Times
China is a large importer of illegally acquired ivory. This photo set focuses on the tradesmen who make their living off of carving the ivory, some of which have been doing so for generations.
Environment
03.02.13China Criticized over Tiger Farms and Illegal Ivory
from chinadialogue
China is under pressure to regulate its rampant trade in illegal ivory and tiger parts ahead of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), opening this weekend in Bangkok.It has also been accused of quietly stimulating...
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09.04.12Yao Ming Uses His Star Image to Help Fight Elephants, Rhino Poaching
Washington Post
As a goodwill ambassador to WildAid, a nonprofit dedicated to ending illegal wildlife trading, Yao took a trip to Kenya last month in August, where he spent several days interacting with wildlife officials and seeing some of the effects of poaching...
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09.04.12Elephants Dying in Epic Frenzy as Ivory Fuels Wars and Profits
New York Times
The vast majority of the illegal ivory — experts say as much as 70 percent — is flowing to China, and though the Chinese have coveted ivory for centuries, never before have so many of them been able to afford it. China’s economic boom has created a...