China's top legislature is deliberating on an amended draft law for the protection of wildlife with a focus on protection of habitat.
The draft is scheduled for its first reading at the bimonthly session of the National People's Congress (NPC) Standing Committee, which opened on Monday.
The current law was promulgated in March 1989. Wang Hongju, vice chairman of the Environment Protection and Resources Conservation Committee of the NPC, said the law had promoted the protection of wildlife in the nation over the years.
Thanks to the law, the population of key wildlife under state protection, including giant pandas and Tibetan antelopes, has increased and there were more than 2,700 nature reserves in the nation by the end of 2014, according to Wang.
However, the nation's wildlife protection is faced with severe challenges. In addition to poaching, acts of encroaching on and damaging their habitats continue regularly, directly leading to the decline of wildlife population.
