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“The Wildlife Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China” will come into force

30.12.2022

The Thirty-eighth Session of the Standing Committee of the Thirteenth National People’s Congress adopted the revised “The Wildlife Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China”, which will come into force on 1 May 2023.

The revised Wildlife Protection Law has the following changes:

    • Strengthen the protection of wildlife habitats: Important wildlife habitats will be designated as national parks, nature reserves and other nature reserves for strict protection in accordance with the law.
    • Refine wildlife population control measures: Competent wildlife protection departments of the people’s governments at or above the county level may take population control measures such as relocation protection and hunting for species whose populations significantly exceed their environmental capacity, based on the investigation, monitoring and assessment of wildlife and their habitats.
    • Strengthen the prevention and control of exotic species: Wildlife species introduced from outside the country shall not be released or discarded illegally, and that if it is necessary to release them into the wild environment, the relevant laws and regulations shall be complied with; if wildlife from outside the country is found to cause harm to the ecosystem, the relevant departments of the people’s governments at or above the county level, such as wildlife protection, shall take appropriate safety control measures.
    • Ensure the convergence with the relevant decisions of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress: to explicitly prohibit the consumption of wild animals under national key protection, terrestrial wild animals of ecological, scientific and social importance under national protection and other terrestrial wild animals, and to prohibit the hunting, trading and transportation of terrestrial wild animals that grow and breed naturally in the wild environment for the purpose of consumption; and to increase the penalties for related illegal acts.
    • Improve the management system for wild animals with mature and stable breeding techniques: According to the protection of wild populations, artificial populations that do not depend on wild resources, have mature and stable techniques and have a certain scale of breeding can no longer be included in the list of terrestrial wild animals with important ecological, scientific and social values, and implement different management measures from those for wild populations, but they should be managed by filing and special identification in accordance with the law.