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BEIJING-China has relaxed a 25-year share of traditional Chinese medicine industry, efforts to protect endangered animals.
A government directive published Monday said rhino horns and tiger bones could be used for "medical research or in healing" by certified hospitals and doctors, as long as they have been raised from captivity, apart from those in zoos. Other exceptions to the scientific research and education, as well as cultural exchanges.
The decision dovetails with President Xi Jinping's multibillion-dollar traditional Chinese medicine sector, which evolved over millennia and includes the use of herbal medicine and acupuncture. The industry has gained a lot of influence over the past few years.
Conservationists said that the decision could be made in favor of Chinese medicine. China is the world's largest market for illegal rhino horn, according to Elephant Action League, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit conversation. Wildlife experts estimate that there are 30,000 rhinos and 3,900 tigers left in the wild globally.
"Iris Ho, a wildlife specialist at Washington, DC, a nonprofit Humane Society International, said a statement.
In 1993, when it also excised references to the official catalogs of Chinese medical ingredients.
Even so, some practitioners still use rhinitis, rheumatism and gout, while applying tiger-bone products to relieve joint pain and boost male virility. Many scientific studies have found no medicinal properties in either.
The State Council did not give reasons for easing the ban. Its publicity office referred to the Chinese-medicine regulator, which did not immediately respond.
Lu Kang, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, said the new directive updates the 1993 regulations that had become "inconsistent" with other existing laws. China is committed to protecting endangered animals and has set "strict supervisory mechanisms" to improve enforcement, Mr. Lu told reporters during a regular briefing on Tuesday.
The traditional Chinese medicine industry earns more than $ 120 billion and employs more than 660,000 medical practitioners, according to government data.
Mr. Xi has alled Chinese medicine as a scientific and cultural export, particularly to developing countries in Asia and Africa. In 2017, he gave the World Health Organization a history of depicting acupuncture points on the human body, as part of efforts to promote global acceptance of Chinese medical techniques.
Just last week, Mr. Xi visited Chinese-medicine in southern Guangdong Province, where he called the field to "treasure of the Chinese civilization" and urged more efforts to take over the global industry.
Some leading Chinese-medicine practitioners, including the members of the national legislature, have lobbied for looser restrictions on the medicinal use of endangered species.
"Zhang Boli, a legislator and president of the Chinese Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, said," In the conditions that we do not affect the reproduction and survival of these animals, we should media.
He said it could be sustainably harvested for medicinal use by breeding rhinos and using bones from tigers that die from natural causes. China had about 4,000 tigers bred in captivity, according to a 2016 state-media report.
Last year, the government's Chinese-medicine regulator said that it had a role to play in protecting and using endangered animals for medicinal use, including rhinos. Its aim is to satisfy the public's basic pharmaceutical needs, endowed with medicinal resources, "the regulator said.
It was not clear to which State Council Directive, which was issued on Oct. 6, but it was published publicly. State media reports on the directive highlighted that the trade in the rhino and tiger parts would be strictly managed to ensure the protection of such animals.
Conservationists say China's decision to be informed about its recent record in support of wildlife protection, which has contributed to declining rhino-horn prices in recent years. Two years ago, the Chinese government said it would be a major step forward in the elephant poaching.
-Fanfan Wang contributed to this article.
Write to Chun Han Wong at [email protected]
