Tiger trade ban 'won't last forever'

China will not promise to maintain a 14-year ban on the trade of bones from captive-bred tigers for traditional medicine, a senior official said yesterday.

"The ban is in place," said Wang Wei, deputy director of the department of wildlife conservation of the State Forestry Administration in an exclusive interview with China Daily. "But the issue is open for review."

He added that the administration will make a decision after conducting comprehensive studies on whether the lifting of the ban would reduce poaching and help conservation of tigers in the wild globally.