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The mainland's biggest internet trading platform will ban sales of shark fin products on its website from January 1. Taobao said  that to follow the rules of wild animal protection, none of its members would be allowed to sell shark fin and violations would be  strictly punished, Xinhua reported yesterday.
Its endorsement of the ban on shark fin products represents a significant step for animal rights activists in China.
Taobao information security  boss Ni Liang    told Xinhua that the move would help end sales of endangered wild animals and related products.
The global conservation body WWF  welcomed Taobao's decision, saying the ban was an  encouraging development.
'We hope that this will set an example for more companies to follow suit,' said Guillermo Moreno,  head of WWF Hong Kong's marine programme.
'Taobao and its parent Alibaba  are major online trading companies which have tremendous influence.'
Mr Moreno said he hoped the trade in all kinds of shark products, including oil, cartilage and meat, could  be stopped. He said shark fin was not the only choice for banquets.
'There are other ways to treat guests at banquets that have the same value and significance.'
A Hong Kong shark fin retailer said the ban would not affect his business. 'We would never buy or sell shark fin online,' he said.
'In fact, it's the first time for me to hear about online shark fin trading.'
Searches on Taobao yesterday showed 12 'fin products'  for sale, most of which were cheaper substitute products such as 22 yuan (HK$25) 'East Sea [fish] fin'. Access was denied to the Taobao pages for three 'shark fin' products selling for up to 70 yuan per 50 grams.
At the same time, at least six 'whale meat' products from Russia, Japan, and South Korea were on sale.
Shark's fin soup is a traditional delicacy in Asia, especially on the mainland, in Taiwan and in Hong Kong, and rising Asian demand for the product is widely seen as driving illegal fishing and a decline in shark populations.
International studies indicate that the mainland, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Taiwan are the main shark fin importers.  Hong Kong is the global trading hub for the commodity, accounting for about half of the world's shark fin trade.
A study  by the Australian government and wildlife-trade monitoring group Traffic  showed that registered legal shark exports totalled US$310 million worldwide in 2005, up from US$237 million in 2002.
In a report  this year, experts organised by the International Union for Conservation of Nature  said the booming demand for shark's fin soup was threatening 11 kinds of ocean shark.
Taobao is the mainland's answer to eBay and the largest Chinese auction website. As of October 1, it had more than 83 million registered users. Its total transaction value in the first half of this year reached 41.3 billion yuan - accounting for more than 77 per cent of online shopping in China.
Fin trade
According to a report by the Australian government and wildlife-trade monitoring group Traffic, the value of legal shark fin exports in 2005 was (in US dollars): $310m



Mainland's biggest online trader bans shark fin sales