Almost all the poached ivory is smuggled on ships going to China. Since at least early 2013, CITES has consistently called China “the world’s leading destination for illicit ivory” (“Elephants”). The six biggest ivory trading centers in China are Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Xiamen, Quanzhou, Fuzhou and Shanghai (Russo).

Elephant tusks are actual teeth with nerves in them. When the elephant dies, the nerves die and shrink. Thus, tusks from a dead elephant are hollow. Chinese ivory carvers prefer the males' bigger, heavier tusks so they have more ivory to work with.