BEIJING (Dispatches) - China's complete ban on ivory trade went into effect Sunday, officials said, a major step forward in Beijing's efforts to rein in what was once the world's largest market for illegal ivory.
The ministry says that the ban also applies to online sales and souvenirs purchased abroad.
A partial ban had already resulted in an 80 percent decline in seizures of ivory entering China and domestic prices for raw ivory are down 65 percent.
The total domestic ban was announced at the end of last year.
By this March, 67 factories and shops involved in China's ivory trade had closed.
The remaining 105 were expected to close Sunday.
China had previously banned imports of all ivory and ivory products acquired before 1975, after pressure to restrict a trade that sees thousands of elephants slaughtered every year.
African ivory is highly sought after in China, where it is seen as a status symbol, and used to fetch as much as $1,100 a kilogramme.