Table 2.

Laws and regulations

Type	References	Year	Act	Legislation
Constitution	National People’s Representative Meeting (Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress 2018)	Issued 1949, Revised 1954, 1975, 1978, 1982, 1988, 1993, 1999, 2004, and 2018	Nation’s responsibility for wildlife protection (Article 9)	• The state has the responsibility to protect the precious wild animals and plants • The state has the task of maintaining the rational use of natural resources
			Nation’s responsibility for ecosystem stability (Article 26)	• The state shall be responsible for maintaining the stability of the ecosystem, creating a good natural environment
National laws	Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (State Council of China 2016)	Issued 1988, Revised 2004, 2009, 2016, and 2018	Wildlife Protection Law	• Detail regulations on the management of wild animals, mainly including hunting, scientific research, and artificial breeding • The government has the responsibility to manage wild animals and maintain their survival • Adapt to the new situation and new requirements of wildlife protection, especially to fully demonstrate the concept of ecological civilization
	State Council of China (State Council of China 2013)	Issued 1992, Revised 2011 and 2016	Regulations on the Implementation of the Protection of Terrestrial Wildlife	• Governments should carry out publicity and education on the protection of wild animals to raise citizens’ awareness of wild animal protection • Hunting and killing of wildlife under special state protection is prohibited • Those who need to hunt wild animals under national key protection must apply for a special hunting license
	State Council of China ( Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress 2004)	Issued 1993, Revised 2011 and 2013	Regulations on the Implementation of the Protection of Aquatic Wildlife	• Any unit or individual is forbidden to damage the waters, places, and living conditions where the aquatic wild animals live and reproduce under national key protection and local key protection • Those who accidentally catch aquatic wild animals during fishing operations shall release them immediately and unconditionally
	Standing Committee of the National People’s (Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress 2020a, b)	Issued 1986, Revised 2000 and 2004	Fisheries Law	• Regulate the fishing of aquatic wild animals, making up for the deficiencies of the Wildlife Protection Law • The law focuses on sustainable utilization and development and economic industries
	Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (Forestry Department 2015)	Issued 2020	Decision on Comprehensively Banning Illegal Wildlife Trade, Eradicating the Habit of Overeating Wildlife and Effectively Protecting people’s Lives and Health	• The “Decision” made targeted reinforcements to the “Wild Animal Protection Law” from the values of maintaining biosecurity and ecological security, preventing major public health risks, and promoting the harmonious coexistence of man and nature • The “Decision” greatly expands the scope of wildlife protection
	Forestry Department (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology 2015)	Issued 1991, Revised 2011 and 2015	Administrative Measures for the Domestication and Breeding Licenses of Wild Animals under National Key Protection	• The forestry departments can review applicants and decide whether to issue permits to control the use of wild animals • Establish a file and statistical system for domestication and breeding of wild animals
	Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine (State Council of China 2019)	Issued 2015	Chinese Herbal Medicinal Development Plan (2015–2020)	• Implement the wild Chinese herbal medicine resource protection project and establish the Chinese herbal medicine resource conservation system • Break through the breeding technology of endangered and scarce Chinese medicinal materials
	State Council of China (State Council of China 2017)	Issued 2006, Revised 2018 and 2019	Regulations on the Administration of Import and Export of Endangered Wild Animals	• Strict regulations on the import and export of endangered species
	State Council of China (Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress 2020a, b)	Issued 1994, Revised 2017	Regulations on Nature Reserves	• Divide the protection of nature reserves into comprehensive management and departmental management • The government shall give awards to the units and individuals who have made remarkable achievements in the construction and management of nature reserves and related scientific research
	Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress (Supreme People’s Court 1990)	Issued 1979, Revised 1997 and 2020	Criminal Law (Articles 341 and 346)	• Those Articles provide criminal protection for wildlife conservation
	Supreme People’s Court, Supreme People’s Procuratorate and Ministry of Public Security (Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Gansu Province 2018)	Issued 1990	Notice on Severely Combatting Illegal Hunting, Killing, Purchasing, Reselling, Smuggling and Smuggling Wild Animals	• Timely investigate and deal with cases of indiscriminate hunting of wild animals, and severely crack down on illegal and criminal activities that destroy wild animal resources • Strictly manage shotguns and ammunition
Local laws	Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Gansu Province (Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Shenzhen City 2018)	Issued 1990, Revised 2018	Gansu Wildlife Protection Law	• when trading marmots, there should be a test report from the epidemic prevention department • The provincial government can organize and carry out the work of releasing wild animals under national and provincial key protection into the wild according to the needs of protecting wild animals
	Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Shenzhen City (Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Guangdong Province 2020)	Issued 2003, Revised 2018	“Several Provisions on Prohibition of Eating Wild Animals in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone”	• It is forbidden to eat wild animals but artificially bred wild animals that have passed the inspection can be eaten • Catering operators shall not use the names, nicknames, or patterns of wild animals and their products to make signboards or recipes
	Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Guangdong Province (Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Jilin Province 1985)	Issued 2001, Revised 2004, 2012, and 2020	Guangdong Province Wildlife Protection Management Regulations	• New penalties are set for illegally consuming wild animals • Internet information service providers shall not produce, reproduce, publish, or disseminate illegal wildlife trade information • Wild animals that have risks endangering public health safety, ecological safety and public order shall not be kept as pets
	Standing Committee of the People’s Congress of Jilin Province	Issued 1985	Interim Regulations on the Protection and Management of Wild Animals and Plants in Jilin Province	• Provide the list of protected wild animals in Jilin Province in detail (393 in total) • The special allocation of the financial department is used for the protection and development of wild animals and plants • For hunting wild animals and plants for breeding, scientific research and teaching purposes, the approved competent department shall charge corresponding fees