used to produce as many as 200,000 bottles every year. In 2008, the U.K.-based Sunday Telegraph reported that undercover investigators had been offered the chance to buy wine made from the crushed bones of tigers at the Qinhuangdao Wildlife Park rescue centre in north China's Hebei Province, as well as at the Badaling safari park in Beijing. Starting from January 2017, as suggested by the former Minister of Water and Environmental Affairs of South Africa Edna Molewa, a dispatch of approximately 800 skeleton of lions coming from captive breeding will be sent in Asia in order to be used as a substitute of the traditional local tiger ingredients used. The trade in endangered species has been subject to international ban since 1987, and has been prohibited by the government since 1993, when China joined the Convention on Biological Diversity, previously opened for signature for the Earth Summit in 1992. From 29 October 2018, the commerce of both rhino horns and tiger bones has been legalised for scientific research and traditional medicine. According to the announcement, tiger parts have to be taken from farmed species, and can be used only in 'recognised structures by qualified doctors recognised by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine'. This unpredictable decision has yet to be explained to the public, but experts believe that it can be considered as an economic move, due to the high value that the commerce of traditional Chinese medicine has on Asian markets. Gallery In December 2011, an auction house based in Beijing auctioned about 400 bottles, in the guise of health tonics and liquors. The auction was interrupted due to the intervention of IFAW. Eventually, the Chinese government agreed to stop the sale of hundreds of bottles that were exposed at the auction. See also Alcoholic drinks in China Bokeo Province CITES Edna Molewa Shenyang zoo scandal Tiger hunting Traffic (conservation programme) Wildlife smuggling References Chinese wine Traditional Chinese medicine