China approved to join ivory trade

China has permission to become a licensed buyer of ivory, provoking widespread condemnation from environmentalists and politicians who say the move threatens wild elephants in Africa and Asia.

China has the right to buy ivory auctioned by four southern African countries, South Africa, Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

Environmentalists claim it will provide a substantial opportunity for the laundering of illegal ivory and the impetus for further poaching across Africa, where more than 20,000 elephants are illegally killed every year.