Top legislature to inspect enforcement of wildlife protection law

BEIJING - China's top legislature will send four teams of lawmakers to inspect the enforcement of the wildlife protection law in eight provincial-level regions across the country.

Li Zhanshu, chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), presided over the first plenary meeting of the inspection teams on Saturday.

Li, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, will lead the inspection himself.

Stressing protection over the wildlife according to the law, Li required efforts to improve related legal systems, and safeguard public health security with strengthened law enforcement.

Li demanded a comprehensive assessment of the enforcement of the wildlife protection law to provide the basis for law revising through the inspection.

China's wildlife protection law was enacted in 1988 and has been revised four times, said Li, noting that the NPC Standing Committee decided to thoroughly ban illegal wildlife trade and food use in February.

The inspection should focus on aspects including the implementation of eliminating the bad habits of eating wild animals, the practice of banning and cracking down on wildlife trade, the management of non-edible use of wildlife, protection of wildlife habitats and the improvement in legal awareness among the public, Li said.

In addition to sending inspection teams, the NPC Standing Committee will also entrust standing committees of the remaining provincial-level people's congresses to inspect the enforcement of the law within their jurisdictions.