No country holds more power over the pangolin’s future than China. For decades, Chinese demand for pangolin scales in traditional medicine and pangolin meat as a luxury delicacy drove the species toward extinction across Asia. Then, in June 2020, Beijing made a historic shift: upgrading all three native pangolin species to Class I national protection — the highest category — and removing pangolin scales from the official Traditional Chinese Pharmacopoeia. Six years on, the results are complicated. Wild populations are recovering in some provinces. Trafficking court cases have declined. But a legal domestic market for pangolin scales persists, and conservationists warn it continues to fuel global poaching.
The 2020 Turning Point
China’s June 2020 decision represented the most significant policy shift for pangolins in the country’s history. The Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla), Malayan pangolin (Manis javanica), and Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) were all elevated from Class II to Class I protection under the Wildlife Protection Law, placing them alongside the giant panda and South China tiger. Poaching, trading, or possessing pangolins now carries penalties of up to 10 years’ imprisonment.
Simultaneously, the State Pharmacopoeia Commission removed pangolin scales from the 2020 edition of the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, the official reference that guides traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners. This was a symbolic and practical blow to the legal justification for scale use, though it did not eliminate all legal pathways for pangolin-derived products.
China’s Pangolin Policy Timeline
Signs of Recovery in Southern China
In April 2026, China Daily reported a milestone: the first-ever baseline population survey for wild Chinese pangolins in Guangdong province. Authorities estimated approximately 1,778 individuals at a population density of 0.33 per square kilometre. The species’ primary distribution hubs — Meizhou, Heyuan, and Huizhou — showed improving habitat quality and documented population growth.
Guangdong launched comprehensive monitoring in 2020, deploying 690 infrared cameras across key distribution areas. The results suggest that Chinese pangolins, once thought to be functionally extinct in parts of their range, are breeding and expanding in protected zones. A pangolin protection research centre was established in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, and researchers achieved a significant breakthrough: the successful breeding of second-generation captive offspring, a first for the species in China.
The Guangdong survey represents the first verified population baseline for Chinese pangolins anywhere in the country — a prerequisite for measuring whether conservation interventions are working.
The 2024–2030 National Action Plan
In March 2024, China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA) announced a comprehensive 2024–2030 action plan for pangolin conservation, supported by supplementary policy notices in July and November 2024. The plan builds on a 2023 designation of 35 important habitats for terrestrial wildlife, all incorporating pangolin distribution areas. These form an in-situ conservation network spanning southern China’s subtropical forests.
The action plan covers four pillars: improved legal frameworks, expanded habitat protection, strengthened law enforcement, and increased scientific research funding. It represents the first time China has published a dedicated multi-year strategy for a single non-flagship species group, signalling that pangolins have moved from obscurity to a national conservation priority.
The Trafficking That Persists
Despite these policy advances, court records reveal an ongoing illegal trade of staggering proportions. Two major studies analysed Chinese court judgments and painted a sobering picture:
603 Court Cases (2011–2022)
A 2026 study by Xie and Jim, published in Tropical Conservation Science, examined 603 court cases involving 24,924 kg of pangolin scales and 9,400 individual pangolins. Guangdong emerged as the primary demand hub. Individual counts and scale weight correlated positively with provincial population size and negatively with per-capita GDP, suggesting that demand concentrates in densely populated, lower-income southern provinces. Police enforcement positively correlated with case frequency, indicating that more resources yield more detections rather than fewer crimes.
390 Cases (2010–2023)
A 2025 study in Scientific Reports analysed 390 cases from China Judgments Online and identified six major transit hubs: Bozhou, Chongzuo, Dehong, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Kunming. Scales arrived primarily from Africa, particularly Nigeria, via seaports and overland border crossings. While seizures peaked in 2018 and have declined since, researchers attribute this partly to COVID-19 disruptions and stricter source-country regulations rather than solely to Chinese enforcement.
Trafficking by the Numbers
The Legal Paradox: TCM Quotas and Domestic Markets
The most contentious issue in Chinese pangolin policy is the persistence of a legal domestic market for pangolin scales in medicine. Despite the 2020 pharmacopoeia removal, scales remain available through regulated channels. In November 2024, China issued a new quota for pangolin scales in TCM, directing government agencies to comply with updated guidelines. Historically, Chinese authorities have auctioned seized pangolin scales to certified pharmaceutical companies and permit holders — a practice documented by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) in 2013, 2018, and 2019.
The EIA’s review of 169 court judgments from 2014 to June 2024 documented the illegal trade of at least 42.7 tonnes of pangolin scales and 5,465 whole pangolins. Several judgments demonstrated direct links between smuggling operations and the TCM supply chain, including convictions of pharmaceutical company employees and legal representatives. All eight recognised pangolin species appeared in Chinese trade records.
China has not adopted a key CITES recommendation to close its domestic pangolin market entirely. Conservation organisations argue that maintaining any legal pathway for pangolin products provides cover for laundering illegally sourced scales into legitimate supply chains, undermining enforcement efforts worldwide.
International Enforcement Cooperation
China’s role in pangolin conservation extends to the source countries where scales are harvested. Nigeria, identified as the primary African transhipment hub, has become a focal point for joint operations. In February 2025, the Nigeria Customs Service arrested Zheng Chao Hong, a Chinese national described as a trafficking “kingpin,” acting on intelligence from the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC). His arrest followed a warehouse raid in Ogun, Nigeria in August 2024 that yielded 7.2 tonnes of pangolin scales — the largest WJC-supported seizure to date, with an estimated Asian market value exceeding USD 1.4 million.
The WJC-NCS partnership has facilitated 17 joint operations, leading to 37 arrests, seizure of 21.5 tonnes of pangolin scales and over one tonne of ivory, and 12 successful convictions. A second suspected kingpin was arrested in April 2026, suggesting the network continues to operate even as enforcement tightens.
The Road Ahead
China’s pangolin story defies simple narratives. The country has enacted the strongest legal protections in its history, invested in population monitoring, and achieved captive breeding milestones. Wild Chinese pangolins are recovering in Guangdong for the first time this century. Yet the persistence of a legal domestic market for scales, combined with court evidence of industrial-scale trafficking involving all eight species, means that Chinese demand continues to drive poaching from Cameroon to Borneo.
The 2024–2030 action plan will be measured not by its ambition but by its outcomes: whether the 35 designated habitats gain meaningful enforcement budgets, whether the legal TCM quota shrinks toward zero, and whether the Guangdong recovery model can be replicated across the Chinese pangolin’s historical range in Yunnan, Guangxi, Fujian, and beyond. For the world’s most trafficked mammals, China remains both the greatest threat and the most powerful potential ally.
Frequently Asked Questions
Did China ban pangolin scales from traditional medicine?
In June 2020, China removed pangolin scales from the official Traditional Chinese Pharmacopoeia and upgraded pangolins to Class I national protection. However, a legal domestic market persists. In November 2024, China issued a new quota for pangolin scales in TCM, and authorities have historically auctioned seized scales to pharmaceutical companies. The EIA describes this legal market as a key driver of ongoing global poaching.
How many Chinese pangolins remain in the wild?
Precise national estimates are not yet available, but Guangdong province established the first baseline survey in 2026, estimating approximately 1,778 wild Chinese pangolins at a density of 0.33 per square kilometre. Monitoring via 690 infrared cameras in Meizhou, Heyuan, and Huizhou documented population growth. The species was previously thought to be functionally extinct in parts of its Chinese range.
Is pangolin trafficking still happening in China?
Yes. A 2025 Scientific Reports study analysing 390 court cases (2010–2023) found that while seizures peaked in 2018 and declined since, smuggling persists. A 2026 study examined 603 court cases involving 24,924 kg of scales and 9,400 pangolins. Six cities serve as major transit hubs, with scales arriving primarily from Africa via Nigeria. All eight pangolin species have been recorded in illegal trade within China.
What is China’s 2024–2030 pangolin conservation action plan?
In March 2024, the National Forestry and Grassland Administration announced a comprehensive plan covering improved legal frameworks, expanded habitat protection (35 designated habitats), strengthened law enforcement, and scientific research including captive breeding programmes. Supporting policy notices followed in July and November 2024.