China, U.S. in joint efforts to curb illegal wildlife trade: U.S. Secretary of Interior

The U.S. and the Chinese governments are working closely to ensure that illegal wildlife trade especially on ivory is banned in the two countries, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell reaffirmed on Wednesday.

The ban by the two countries is expected to restrict the import of illegal ivory as hunting trophies mainly from Africa.

"I visited China and had fruitful discussions with Chinese Vice Premier Wang Yang and had constructive dialogue that is earmarked at ending the trade in the two countries," Jewell told journalists during the final day of her five-day visit to Kenya.

Jewell said the Chinese, U.S. and Kenyan commitment is a step forward in reducing the illicit wildlife trade.

Her remarks came amid recent reports that the value of illegal raw ivory has been falling continuously, giving hopes that the wanton killing of Africa's elephants may finally be reduced across their range.

The Kenya-based wildlife conservation organization "Save the Elephants" said last month that the Chinese government's pledge to close down domestic ivory trade and growing awareness in the world about the impacts of buying ivory have already helped reduce the ivory price.

Late last year, Chinese President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama signed an agreement in Washington to end ivory trade following a visit by the Chinese leader.

Both the U.S. and China have now enacted a near-total ban on the interstate trade and commercial import of ivory.

Jewell said the American government has improved its intelligence gathering with the aim of arresting the syndicates in the business.

"Like in the case of drug trafficking, we are putting measures in place to help us know where the ivory is coming from and also arrest the kingpins in time," she added.

Jewell, however, called on Kenya and other African countries to increase their efforts in reducing poachers by sharing information to avoid the demise of wildlife species. Enditem