China Approaches: Ivory and Government

china approaches: Although that may not sound like a lot, how China approaches that hoard may be almost as consequential for conservation as the ban on trade, according to The Japan Times. Nowhere is demand for ivory higher than in China, where it's been used in handicrafts for thousands of years. For the Chinese government, though, it creates a strange problem what to do with its 40-ton stockpile of ivory, worth about 150 million. Much of the trade is regulated, with the government occasionally allowing imports of seized and stockpiled ivory that is sold through a network of authorized workshops and dealers. Black market supplies, which are sometimes laundered through the official system, may be much larger. Collectively, government and legal private stockpiles are now estimated to be worth about 600 million. (news.financializer.com). As reported in the news.