The 18th Meeting of the Conference to the Parties (Cop18) to CITES was held in Geneva, Switzerland from 17 to 28 of August in 2019. About 1,700 from 168 government delegations, including China and over 200 international organizations and news presses attended the meeting.
As members of the Chinese government delegation, researcher Yin Yafang and assistant researcher Jiao Lichao from the Institute of Wood Industry participated in the discussion of 8 policy issues and 7 appendix revision proposals concerning wood; joined in 2 working groups of "Diospyros and Dalbergia in Madagascar"; participated in 4 side events including "Common Responsibilities and Common Roles: Fighting Illegal Trade in Wild Animals and Plants Throughout the Chain" hosted by the SFA, and also attended Informal meeting of the Wood Identification Working Group organized by the World Resources Institute as well the bilateral or multilateral talks between China and CITES secretariat, EU, DRC, Nigeria and other countries.
Moreover, 8 policy-oriented issues and 6 appendix amendment proposals involving timber have been deliberated and approved during the meeting, and19 more kinds of timber have been added to the list controlled by CITES. Up to now, CITES regulates more than 520 species of timber trees.
At this conference, Chinese experts actively publicized and displayed the research achievements in the field of wood identification in recent years and the work carried out by China in implementing CITES Convention by using wood identification technology, thus further enhancing China's international influence in the implementation of wood species. (Jiao Lichao, Research Institute of Wood Industry)
