A herd of elephants in the Amboseli National Park, Kenya. The park is regarded as the best place in the world to see African elephants. [Chen Liang/China Daily]

If no one buys ivory, no one will kill elephants for their ivory.

That explains why China introduced a one-year ban on imports on ivory and ivory products in 2015, and why it has now extended that ban until the end of 2019.

It also explains why China has intensified its efforts to extend its ban on imports of ivory and ivory products obtained after 1975 (when the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna took effect) to all ivory and ivory products before the convention. The decision was announced by State Forestry Administration on Sunday.

This is meant to drive home the awareness among Chinese people that even ivory and ivory articles obtained or made before the international convention on the protection of endangered wild animal and plants took effect should not be considered eligible for use as decorative articles.

And it means that ivory and ivory products obtained by Westerners during their colonial period cannot be imported into China.

It is unethical for some Western people not to have a guilty conscience about seeking to profit from their forefathers' killing of a large number of elephants in Africa during the colonial times. It is an act of justice for China to stop them selling such ivory and ivory articles to Chinese.

It will take time for people worldwide to develop the awareness about not selling or purchasing ivory or ivory products in order to protect the wild elephants in Africa.

Statistics show that the number of elephants in Africa in 1900 was 10 million but it dropped to 1.2 million by 1980 because of the demand for ivory. The number now stands at 500,000.

Strictly banning the trade of ivory and ivory articles worldwide is an effective way to reduce the killing of African elephants for commercial purposes before the whole world knows that it is a crime to kill elephants and it is unethical to buy or sell ivory articles.

By extending its ban to the import of all ivory and ivory articles and extending its one-year ban to four years, China is contributing to the protection of wild elephants in Africa.