(Yicai Global) March 10 -- China is stepping up its crackdown on illegal consumption of exotic wild game, with Guangdong, a southeastern Chinese province where the residents are famous for their passion for consuming it, pondering a fine of up to CNY10,000 (USD1,440) against those who violate the ban.

The Standing Committee of Guangdong Provincial People's Congress yesterday published a document on its website to solicit the public's opinion over the draft amendment to existing provincial wildlife protection and administration rules, proposing a fine of between CNY2,000 to CNY10,000 against those who eat bushmeat, and a fine from CNY10,000 to CNY50,000 against those providing it.

The proposed amendment seeks to embody the latest law China's top legislature the National People's Congress passed on Feb. 24, which completely bans the wildlife trade and the undesirable custom of eating exotic animals to prevent and control significant risks to public health and sanitation.

The draft strictly incorporates the range of wild animals prohibited from consumption set by the NPC, bans eating wild species under national priority protection, terrestrial wildlife with social value and those reared in captivity, and hunting, trading and transporting terrestrial wildlife bred naturally for meat consumption, an official of the provincial agriculture and rural affairs committee, told Yicai Global.

The draft is controversial for its rules making exceptions for the use of otherwise prohibited wild animals for medicinal purposes and exploiting their skins, however, as well as the entries in its 'livestock' catalog, said Zhang Xiya, an environmental protection volunteer in the province, who added she suggests the catalog should be drafted by an NPC-authorized special committee made up of wild animal protection experts as letting local government devise the list, which has the force of law, will produce a watered-down version.

With a long tradition of its residents dining on exotic game, Guangdong abounds in wildlife, much of which it consumes, forming a large market for such products. More than 900 wild animal species, about 10 percent of China's total, range throughout the province, and its game imports and exports make up one-third of the country's total, data from local agencies show.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Ben Armour