Giraffes and steenboks are seen at the Etosha National Park, northwestern Namibia, July 30, 2016. (Xinhua/Wu Changwei)

WINDHOEK, March 4 (Xinhua) -- China has expressed determination to cooperate with the Namibian government on wildlife protection ahead of the World Wildlife Day that fell on Friday.

Speaking at a briefing at the Chinese Embassy in Namibia, Charge d'Affaires ad interim Li Nan said that China would never give cover to lawless poachers and has zero tolerance for poachers.

On Thursday, Li also called upon Chinese local community to set up a Wildlife Protection Fund in Namibia to sponsor wildlife projects.

The embassy would donate 200,000 Namibian dollars (15,200 U.S. dollars) to Namibia's Environment Ministry to help combat poaching, according to Li.

"Although we can not get rid of those illegal activities at one kick, we believe some down-to-earth work shall be done right here," he said.

Furthermore Li said China and Namibia would also work hand-in-hand to combat transnational wildlife criminals with the launch of a joint law-enforcement action, involving Namibian Police and China's Ministry of Public Security.

Li noted that China also fully supports the Namibian government in amending environmental laws.

Namibian Deputy Minister of Environment and Tourism Tommy Nambahu also said that law enforcers need to be proactive in dealing with people who poach rhinos and elephants.

"It is all of us who are supposed to be ambassadors of preserving wildlife," said Nambahu.

China announced late last year a phased schedule to stop part of ivory processing and sales by March 31, 2017, and to eventually stop all ivory processing and sales by the end of 2017.