Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what discussions she has had with her Chinese counterpart on preventing the breeding of tigers for commercial purposes.

I met the Chinese delegation to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) 17^th Conference of Parties, including the Vice Minister of the State Forestry Administration, in London on 21 September 2016 immediately prior to the Conference. Although discussions did not specifically include the commercial breeding of tigers, we did discuss the conservation of a number of species including tigers.

At the Conference the UK, working with Member States of the European Union and other countries, achieved strong outcomes for tigers including the agreement of proposals to scrutinise captive breeding facilities.