DECLINE IN THE LEGAL IVORY TRADE IN CHINA IN ANTICIPATION OF A BAN LUCY VIGNE and ESMOND MARTIN DECLINE IN THE LEGAL IVORY TRADE IN CHINA IN ANTICIPATION OF A BAN LUCY VIGNE and ESMOND MARTIN SAVE THE ELEPHANTS PO Box 54667 Nairobi 00200 Kenya 2017 © Lucy Vigne and Esmond Martin, 2017 All rights reserved ISBN 978-9966-100-47-4 Front cover: This ivory court fan with cranes is typical of the intricate carving a top master carver in China can produce, an artistic skill that the Chinese government does not want to lose. Title page: In outlets licensed to sell ivory in China, brochures explain these items are banned from export, but soon such items will be banned in China too, as stated by the government. Worked mammoth ivory (on left) will still be permitted for sale in China and for export. Back cover: Guangzhou in southern China is famous for producing this so-called magic ball consisting of many concentric layers carved from the inside outwards, a technique that carvers in no other country have mastered. We were offered for sale this 30-layered ivory magic ball for nearly USD 32,000. Photographs: Lucy Vigne: Front cover, title page, pages 6, 8–10, 12–14, 17–18, 20–24, 26–34, 37–38, 39 (bottom), 40–45, 47–61, 63–70, 84, back cover Esmond Martin: Pages 16, 36, 39 (top) Published by: Save the Elephants, PO Box 54667, Nairobi 00200, Kenya Contents 07 Executive summary 09 Introduction 11 Background and legislation 13 Methodology of fieldwork 15 Results of the survey 15 Sources and wholesale prices of raw elephant tusks in China, late 2015 16 Sources and wholesale prices of raw mammoth tusks in China, late 2015 19 Shenyang 19 History 19 Ivory and mammoth ivory carving in Shenyang 19 Number of ivory and mammoth ivory items, retail outlets (licensed and unlicensed), types of items and their prices in Shenyang 21 Vendors’ views in Shenyang 23 Substitutes in Shenyang 25 Tianjin 25 History 25 Ivory and mammoth ivory carving in Tianjin 26 Number of ivory and mammoth ivory items, retail outlets (licensed and unlicensed), types of items and their prices in Tianjin 28 Vendors’ views in Tianjin 28 Substitutes in Tianjin 29 Nanjing 29 History 29 Ivory carving in Nanjing 30 Number of ivory and mammoth ivory items, retail outlets (licensed and unlicensed), types of items and their prices in Nanjing 32 Vendors’ views in Nanjing 33 Substitutes in Nanjing 35 Changzhou 35 History 35 Ivory carving in Changzhou 37 Number of ivory and mammoth ivory items, licensed retail outlets, types of items and their prices in Changzhou 38 Vendors’ views in Changzhou 38 Substitutes in Changzhou 41 Hangzhou 41 History 41 Ivory carving in Hangzhou 42 Number of ivory and mammoth ivory items, retail outlets (licensed and unlicensed), types of items and their prices in Hangzhou 44 Vendors’ views in Hangzhou 45 Substitutes in Hangzhou 47 Suzhou 47 History 47 Ivory carving in Suzhou Contents 3 47 Number of ivory and mammoth ivory items, retail outlets (licensed and unlicensed), types of items and their prices in Suzhou 48 Vendors’ views in Suzhou 49 Substitutes in Suzhou 51 Beijing and Shanghai retail ivory price trends, 2014–2015 51 Beijing’s retail ivory price trends 52 History 52 Ivory carving in Beijing 53 General observations in Beijing regarding retail outlets 53 Worked ivory retail prices in Beijing, 2014–2015 54 Worked mammoth ivory retail prices in Beijing, 2014–2015 54 Vendors’ views in Beijing, 2014–2015 56 Shanghai’s retail ivory price trends 56 History 57 Ivory carving in Shanghai 57 General observations in Shanghai regarding retail outlets 58 Worked ivory retail prices in Shanghai, 2014–2015 59 Worked mammoth ivory retail prices in Shanghai, 2014–2015 59 Vendors’ views in Shanghai, 2014–2015 61 Discussion 62 Public awareness 62 The future of the ivory trade—dealers’ views 62 Comments from legal ivory carvers 62 Substitutes 63 Wholesale ivory sales 63 Carving 63 Mammoth ivory 64 Licensing 64 Legal ivory issues 64 Smuggling 65 Illegal ivory competition 65 Retail ivory sales 66 Price trends and demand for ivories 67 Prices for worked ivory and mammoth ivory in the six cities surveyed 67 Prices for worked ivory and mammoth ivory in Beijing and Shanghai, 2014–2015 69 Conclusion 69 Postscript 70 Acknowledgements 71 References 72 Tables 4 Contents E N PIA PE UdaBay H KOREA H KOREA HINA SEA PHILIS A RT UT ai T C USSI NO SO W oungh EAS N R yang YELLOSEA gzhouChangzhShaou ngzhou u TAIWA n n h a o g he Ya uz H zh on S gS u K A Beijing njin Nanjin F zhou Hong Macau OUTH CHINSEA a g S Ti n a u G M A A N I L T O E G VI N O A M S N O A L I H C R A M N A A I Y D M N I N A T U H B al g n e B of y a N B TA L es S A mil KH EP 00 A N N 5 Z A A K T S Z m GY A 00 k R DI 5 KY N N N A N A I T A T S T S JIKI NIS AKI A A P T H G F 0 0 A Detailed carvings have been produced in China for centuries for emperors of the imperial palaces, such as this ivory bottle displayed in the Imperial Palace in Shenyang, dating to the Qing Dynasty. Executive summary ■ More tonnes of elephant tusks, mainly from to visit four, of which one had stopped selling poached elephants, are smuggled out of Africa ivory. Shenyang had three but only two were and imported illegally into China. displaying ivory items. Suzhou had only one. Tianjin had six; of the five we could visit two ■ Mammoth ivory dug out of the tundra in Russia had closed down. has been traded legally with China in growing amounts of tonnes since 1995, much of it ■ In the six newly surveyed cities, we saw on transported via Hong Kong. Mainland China display for sale 3,378 ivory items in 159 retail remains the largest importer and consumer of outlets, of which 31% were in non-licensed mammoth ivory in the world. outlets and 69% in licensed outlets. Of our total ivory count, 1,060 items in the non- ■ The wholesale price in China for an illegal small licensed outlets made up 31% of all the ivory to average-sized (about 1–5 kg) good quality, raw items counted. We surveyed 18 licensed outlets elephant tusk fell by almost 50%, from about USD out of 23 and these displayed 2,318 items with 2,100/kg in early 2014 to USD 1,100/kg in late ID cards, making them legal. There were 141 2015. The latter was also the price for official raw unlicensed outlets that displayed 1,060 items ivory offered to one ivory workshop in late 2015. with no ID cards, making them illegal. The wholesale price for legal tusks of 5–10 kg was slightly higher than for the same tusks that were ■ Hangzhou had the most ivory objects offered for illegal: about USD 1,582/kg versus USD 1,266/kg. retail sale with 1,129 seen on display. ■ The wholesale price for raw mammoth ivory in ■ The most common ivory item was a pendant; China in early 2014 was USD 1,900/kg for a tusk next were other jewellery items, with large of 5–10 kg; in 2015 it was USD 1,400/kg. tusks and figures witnessed virtually only in the licensed outlets for which the legal master ■ In 2015 wholesale prices for large, good-quality carvers operate. illegal elephant tusks of around 10 kg were about USD 1,582/kg, which was the same price ■ The most expensive ivory item seen in the six for similar-sized good quality mammoth tusks cities was a 38-layer magic ball, for retail sale at in China. USD 284,810 in Nanjing. ■ In 2015 the government of China announced ■ In these six cities we saw on display for sale 2,426 that the legal ivory trade would be phased out. items of mammoth ivory in 47 retail outlets, 30 of Officials reduced the number of licensed ivory which were selling elephant ivory items as well. factories from 37 in 2014 to 34 in 2015, and the number of licensed retail outlets from 145 to 130. ■ Shenyang had the most mammoth ivory objects offered for retail sale with 1,023 seen on display. ■ We visited six cities in eastern China in late 2015 to see ivory factories as well as count and itemize ■ The most common mammoth ivory items seen ivory for sale in retail outlets seen. The six cities were also pendants; next were carved figures and chosen were Changzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, jewellery—all legal as there are no restrictions on Shenyang, Suzhou and Tianjin. mammoth ivory sales in China. ■ Regarding licensed ivory factories, three were in ■ The most expensive mammoth ivory item seen Changzhou, one in Hangzhou, one in Suzhou for retail sale in the six cities was a 90-cm carved and one in Tianjin; we visited all six that were all tusk, for USD 126,582 in Nanjing. private companies. There was none in Nanjing or Shenyang. ■ We also re-visited Beijing and Shanghai to compare retail prices for ivory items with our ■ We visited all three of the retail shops in earlier survey in mid-2014. We found in late 2015 Changzhou that had licences to sell ivory that generally the prices in yuan had remained items. We found three of the four shops in the same for identical items still displaying the Hangzhou. Nanjing had six shops; we were able same price tags in certain licensed outlets where Executive summary 7 exact comparisons of many items on display can who also keep most of these items within the be accurately made. country, although, unlike for ivory, they are allowed to be exported. ■ In Beijing and Shanghai the retail prices for mammoth ivory items that we could compare ■ Some of China’s mammoth ivory specialist with prices 18 months earlier were also the same. companies export their carved mammoth tusks and figures abroad, mainly to Europe ■ In Beijing and Shanghai, overall the legal retail and the US. outlets had fewer ivory items for sale than 18 months earlier and some were not replacing the ■ Besides the economic slowdown reducing sales ivory items they had sold, with the intention of in 2015, vendors attributed the crackdown in diversifying into the sale of other items, a few corruption as reducing sales of expensive ivory trying to sell more worked mammoth ivory. items used for gifts for officials, as well as the anti-ivory campaign that may have discouraged some from buying ivory. ■ Several licensed ivory specialist outlets in Beijing were now staying closed for parts of the week due to few customers coming to shop for worked ivory ■ All those involved in the domestic legal ivory (considered a luxury item), mainly because of the trade in China were pessimistic about their economic slowdown at the time, we were told. future in ivory. They were certain the government would eventually close down this business, as the president of China had given his word. ■ Although we saw the occasional interested customer looking at ivory items for sale in the eight cities we visited, we did not see an actual ■ Vendors selling worked ivory in non-licensed sale of ivory occur anywhere. outlets were not so pessimistic as they were already dealing in illegal items and believed they could probably continue due to the general ■ Vendors all said that mainland Chinese are by far ineffectiveness of inspections. the main customers for their retail worked ivory (perhaps over 90%). It nearly all stays within the ■ Mammoth ivory vendors are confident about country and is not for export (that would be illegal). continuing their business as there are essentially no restrictions on this trade in China and in most ■ We also saw no customers buying mammoth of the world. ivory during our month’s visit. Again, vendors said their main customers are mainland Chinese Illegal ivory items have become increasingly available online in China. Most unlicensed vendors do not wish to display illegal items in their shops, but may show items on their smart phones to interested customers.