China is committed to protecting endangered species. A foreign ministry spokesman has denied a report claiming China is a major importer of Ivory.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao dismissed the report as baseless, saying China long ago banned trade in ivory.

The spokesman says the Chinese government is committed to protecting endangered species and signed the relevant international convention in 1981.

In accordance with the convention, China banned ivory trade in 1990s.

The high profit made by ivory deal has caused endangered elephants to be on the brink of extinction. China has pledged to protect endangered species and make contributions to animal protection.

(China Daily March 16, 2005)