A bear is kept in small cage awaiting bile extraction. (file photo)

BEIJING, June 14 (Xinhuanet) -- China on Tuesday reaffirms its ban on barbaric cruelty of extracting bear bile, a valuable ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine.

    "The Chinese government will intensify management on the medical use of bears and will crack down on maltreatment of the wildlife in the bile extraction process," said Cao Qingyao, a spokesman for the State Forestry Administration, at a press conference Tuesday in Beijing.

    Protection of animal welfare has always topped the agenda of the Chinese government, he added.

    The State Forestry Administration, along with four other government departments, issued a joint circular in late December of 2004 to outlaw the hunting of endangered wild bears and barbaric cruelty on bear farms, said Cao.

    The circular also banned illegal trading of bear bile, he added.

    In 1992, wild bears were included into the list of endangered species in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. "The Chinese government firmly adheres to the convention. Starting from 2003, China stopped exporting bear bile products, approved no new bile extracting facilities and prohibited the hunting of wild bears."

    Over the past decade, China has set up nature reserves in major bear habitats and returned six artificially bred black bears back to the wildness in Changbai Mountains in the northeast.

    "Meanwhile, Chinese scientists are working hard to find herbal alternatives to bear bile," said Cao.

    A latest survey shows China's bear population is increasing year-on-year, he said without giving details.

    Bear bile, believed to cure fever, liver illnesses and sore eyes, has been harvested in China for more than 1,000 years and some impoverished farmers raise bears for their biles. Enditem