China's  top legislature yesterday passed an interpretation of the Criminal Law which will jail people who eat rare species of animals.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, adopted the interpretation through a vote at its bimonthly session which closed in Beijing yesterday.

Currently, 420 species of animals are considered rare or endangered by the Chinese government. They include giant pandas, golden monkeys, Asian black bears and pangolins.

According to the legal document, anyone who eats animals on this list or buys them for other purposes will be considered to be breaking the Criminal Law and could face a jail term of more than 10 years for the most serious offences.

China is home to around 6,500 vertebrate species -- about 10 percent of the world’s total. More than 470 terrestrial vertebrates are indigenous to China, including giant pandas, golden monkeys, South China tigers and Chinese alligators.

However, the survival of wildlife in China faces serious challenges from illegal hunting, consumption of wild animal products and a worsening environment.

Advertisements, endorsed by celebrities like retired basketball star Yao Ming, have highlighted the issue with a slogan "no trading, no killing."

Eating rare wild animals is a main reason why illegal hunting has not been stopped despite repeated crackdowns, said Lang Sheng, deputy head of the Legislative Affairs Commission of the NPC Standing Committee, when elaborating on the bill to lawmakers this week.

This is the 10th interpretation of the Criminal Law by the top legislature since it took effect in 1997.

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