- China has updated its pharmacopeia, its list of approved traditional and Western drugs, to remove traditional formulas with pangolin scales, offering hope for pangolin conservation — but also leaving some concerns about continued production.
- The new edition, effective Oct. 1, 2025, removes both raw pangolin scales and all formulas known to contain them, marking a significant step forward in conservation efforts, though conservationists caution that a few untracked formulas may still remain.
- The change reflects both international pressure, such as a 2022 resolution by the global wildlife trade convention, and growing internal advocacy within the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) community for more sustainable practices.
- Despite the positive development, conservationists remain cautious, as changes to the pharmacopeia don’t amount to a full market ban, and China’s domestic market for pangolin scales is still open under an annual 1-metric-ton quota, allowing continued production.
Wildlife conservation activists have welcomed an update to China’s list of officially sanctioned medicines, which drops 13 traditional formulas containing pangolin parts. The move offers the world’s most trafficked mammal a better shot at survival and has raised cautious optimism among conservationists.
China’s pharmacopeia, the country’s official compendium of approved traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and Western drugs, has been updated with a new edition, according to a recent announcement by the National Medical Products Administration and the National Health Commission.
Set to take effect on Oct. 1, 2025, this year’s update no longer includes any pangolin-based TCM, either as raw ingredients or in formula. In total, there are 19 medicines delisted, the government states.
Christina Vallianos, wildlife program director at U.S.-based NGO WildAid, said the 2025 update builds on a 2020 change that removed pangolin scales as a raw ingredient but kept formulas containing them, continuing to drive demand. Vallianos said these patented medicines are produced by more than 200 licensed manufacturers using pangolin scales from a government-regulated stockpile, though the number of manufacturers appears to have declined since 2018.
The new edition removes official recognition from all TCM products sourced from pangolin scales, both raw and in formulas, marking a significant step forward. “I do think it sends a positive signal — it’s a step in the right direction,” Vallianos told Mongabay by phone. “Many people refer to the pharmacopoeia for teaching and practice, so having pangolin products removed is huge.”
Among the excluded formulas is guilingji, a traditional remedy long believed to combat aging and male sexual dysfunction in China. It has been a key part of TCM since being classified as a top-secret national prescription in 1957, according to the NGO World Animal Protection.
“Its delisting from the pharmacopoeia suggests a shift in regulatory priorities, especially as pangolins are now protected under the highest level of international and domestic conservation laws,” World Animal Protection said in a statement. “If a medicine is no longer listed, it indicates that it no longer meets criteria for safety, efficacy or ethical acceptability, and healthcare providers may reduce or avoid its use altogether.”
Internal, external pressures
Erin Chong, a pangolin campaigner with the U.K.-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), welcomed the update as “good news,” noting it aligns with a resolution passed in 2022 by CITES, the global wildlife trade convention, which urges countries to remove references to pangolin parts and derivatives from their official pharmacopeias.
Vallianos said the change reflects not just international pressure, but also growing influence from within the TCM community itself, where more voices are advocating for the removal of endangered species products. “China doesn’t always respond to international pressure, so I think it’s also voices within the traditional medicine community within China who are asking for the changes,” she added.
Vallianos cited the Coalition for Wildlife Protection in TCM, where WildAid serves as an adviser, as an example of growing internal advocacy. This global network of practitioners opposes the use of endangered species parts — not just pangolin scales — in traditional medicine, and promotes sustainable alternatives, mostly plant-based or derived from domesticated animals, she said..
‘Not a full ban’
While seen as progress, conservationists remain wary, as the move stops short of a full market ban. “While this does not constitute a ban on Guilingji’s sale or production, the removal makes it harder to promote and prescribe,” World Animal Protection said.
The EIA raised concerns that although the pharmacopeia establishes official quality standards for medicines in China, it isn’t a law and doesn’t govern approval or sale of treatments. Instead, this is done by the Medicinal Product Administration Law, which allows products that meet State Council-approved medical quality standards to be registered and manufactured.
“The pharmacopeia is a medical standard compendium and cannot in itself be used to regulate what can and cannot be produced,” Chong told Mongabay by email.
“Just because pangolin formulae have been removed, it doesn’t mean that companies will stop producing them. As long as they have the relevant approval certificates, they can continue to manufacture such products,” Chong added, referring to a December 2024 statement from the China Association of TCM, which preceded the official announcement of the pharmacopeia’s 2025 update.
That statement also clarified that for products no longer listed, specific inspection standards will still follow the 2020 edition of the pharmacopoeia, while general inspection rules will align with the new 2025 edition.
According to the EIA, this means excluded formulas can still be legally produced, unless China revises its laws or issues a specific ban on certain species. However, the 2025 pharmacopeia update could help reduce demand for pangolin-based products by diminishing their social recognition and impacting their inclusion in national insurance coverage, thereby supporting behavior change efforts, the group added.
Vallianos shared Chong’s concern about the continued legal production of medicines with pangolin scales, noting that the government still allows an annual quota of 1 metric ton. Vallianos added that while all the pangolin scale formulas they’re aware of have been removed from the pharmacopeia, it’s possible a formula or two may remain that conservationists weren’t tracking and may have missed. “But we’re hopeful that this 2025 revision is indicative of a desire for change within the TCM community which will help to reduce reliance on scales,” Vallianos said,.
Conservationists remain vigilant, as China’s domestic market for pangolin scales stays open under this annual quota for TCM, reiterating calls for a full ban and market closure. “We still have concerns regarding their sourcing and management, which is why we will be calling for time-bound, measurable and country specific recommendations to be made at the upcoming CITES CoP20,” Chong said.
Citation:
Feng, Y., Zhao, S., Ju, R., Li, J., Pan, C., Tang, Q., … Yao, B. (2024). The therapeutic effect and metabolic mechanism analysis of Guilingji on idiopathic oligo-asthenoteratozoospermia. Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, 14(4), 403-413. doi:10.1016/j.jtcme.2024.01.001
Credits
