Vietnam and China are source, destination, and transit countries for the illegal wildlife trade. China's ban on ivory trade came into force in January 2018. Since then, illegal trade has increasingly moved to neighboring countries, such as Vietnam and Laos.

To promote Vietnam-China cooperation to combat regional wildlife crime, USAID Saving Species supported a bilateral meeting from May 5-10 between the two countries’ Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Management Authorities (MA) which are charged with implementing the CITES agreement in their respective countries. During the meeting, government officials discussed cross-border wildlife trafficking between the two countries and the impact of China’s ivory ban on the demand in Vietnam. In addition, China’s CITES MA shared their experiences on management, traceability, sample marking, sampling, and storage of genetic materials from confiscated specimens.

So What? Given that wildlife trafficking is a global issue with China and Vietnam as major players, sharing best practices and coordinating anti-trafficking efforts between these neighboring countries can help to combat wildlife crime in the region and beyond.