Renewed five-year accord paves way for strengthened, sustainable and legal wildlife trade in China

CAMBRIDGE, UK (19 May 2026) — TRAFFIC was pleased to host a high-level delegation from the China Environmental United Certification Center (CEC) at its Global Office in Cambridge to sign an MoC (Memorandum of Cooperation), extending their partnership for another five years.  

The agreement was formally signed at the David Attenborough Building by Melanie Heath, TRAFFIC Senior Programme Director, and CHEN Yiqun, General Manager of CEC. This high-level alliance marks nearly a decade of institutional trust. It coincides with TRAFFIC’s 50th anniversary year, providing a crucial forum to align technical expertise to secure the sustainable use of wild species along with tackling climate change and promoting green supply chains.

Welcoming the delegation, Melanie Heath emphasised the strength of the long-standing partnership:

This signing and exchange in the UK opens a new, broader and deeper chapter in our partnership, building on nearly a decade of trust and achievement. By combining our strengths in policy research, certification services and global networks, we can expand cooperation into vital new areas — from timber sustainability to biodiversity assessment research.”

ZHANG Yaodong, Deputy General Director of the Environmental Development Center (EDC) of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) and Chairman of CEC, highlighted the milestone:

Today marks an important milestone as we formally sign this five-year Memorandum of Cooperation. This is not only a continuation of our ongoing collaboration in the sustainable forest sector since 2017, but also a starting point for more strategic and comprehensive cooperation. We look forward to contributing further to global ecological governance and sustainable development.”

To deliver on this shared ambition, the newly signed MoC establishes concrete pathways for joint action across several critical sectors:

• Timber Product & Forestry Sustainability: Capitalising on active engagement since 2017 under the FGMC programme, the organisations will support capacity building for auditors and enterprises to standardise timber products, advancing sustainable forest management and contributing to climate change mitigation. This initiative expands upon work supported by the UK's Forest Governance, Markets and Climate (FGMC) programme, directly aligning with TRAFFIC's From Forest to Market project to transform tropical timber supply chains for governance, equity, and sustainability.
• Biodiversity Assessment Research: The partners will explore pathways and methodologies for biodiversity assessments specifically designed to support the global targets outlined in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.
• Public Awareness & Green Consumption: The collaboration will launch joint public education and awareness campaigns to guide sustainable consumption behaviour and improve public recognition of green-labelled products.

The successful hosting of the visit and completion of the MoC builds on long-standing engagement between TRAFFIC's global teams and Chinese partners, including the TRAFFIC Beijing Office.