In 2014 there were moves to amend the Wildlife Protection Law, Xi and Shi being among the proponents. In 2016 the Chinese Wildlife Protection Law (Revised Edition) came out, and to Xi and Shi it seemed little had changed.

"In fact a scandalous wildlife empire was recently discovered on the internet, operating from Qiyang county, Hunan province," Xi said. "They openly trade in wildlife online, including river badgers, white-fronted geese, all kinds of wild ducks, leopard cats, yellow reeds, bamboo rats, porcupines, wild boars, hares, nutrias, marmots, sika deer, turtle doves, sparrows and civets, and can even supply zoos with wild animals such as hippos, zebras and giraffes. Even after the outbreak in Wuhan, on Jan 23, they posted a video on WeChat of a river badger for sale, saying they had quarantine, breeding and sales certificates.

"Protection organizations and customs around the world have cracked down on the trade in illegal ivory products from Africa, but you see or hear little about it."