Perhaps, but China has also made great strides in the preservation of animal species, like the giant panda and golden monkey. True, there are still some small segment of the population, mostly in villages, which desire rare animal parts. However, these are the exception in China and the preservation of these animals contribute greatly to tourism.
I hope to see China as a role model for preservation of animal species. The recent(ish) loss of the Baiji[1] hopefully sent a wake-up call to the Chinese government.
Here in Australia we've historically had a terrible track record for this ("There are 23 birds, 78 frogs, and 27 mammal species or subspecies strongly believed to have become extinct since European settlement of Australia."[2]), but we're hopefully getting better. I recently visited some of the Tasmanian Devils who are being bred on the mainland, in isolation from the Tasmanian population, due to [3]. They seem hale and hearty (and very cute, though I wouldn't want to cuddle one)
Does China do anything to stop the import of poached animal products? They protect their own native species (nowadays, anyways... their native tiger is likely extinct in the wild), but don't make similar efforts species from other areas. Their ivory and tiger trade are huge international problems for modern conservation efforts.
