China is reportedly the single biggest market for illegal ivory [EPA]

The UN body which oversees trade in endangered species will decide at a meeting in Geneva on Tuesday whether to give approval to China's bid.

The proposed shipment involves ivory collected from elephant culls in overpopulated areas, natural deaths and seizures.

But environmental activists are trying to stop the sale saying an approval would encourage the illegal ivory trade by providing a "smokescreen" for increased poaching.

The international trade in ivory was banned under a 1989 UN accord, but in 2006 the Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites) agreed to allow one-off sales on a case-by-case basis.

So far Japan is the only country to have been approved to buy ivory through such means, although no actual sale has yet been made.

Now Botswana, Namibia, South Africa and Zimbabwe are offering 108 tonnes of ivory for sale to China -  a deal which must first be approved by the Cites meeting in Geneva.

Tom Milliken, a senior investigator at Traffic, the world's largest wildlife trade monitor, said China was qualified for the import as it had sufficiently cracked down on the illegal domestic trade in ivory.

"It's very evident that China has made an enormous commitment," he told the Associated Press.

"Seizures are occurring at a very fast clip these days. The government is putting a lot more in enforcement efforts."

However, environmental campaigners based in Europe and the US say China's revelation that it had lost track of 121 tonnes of ivory over a dozen years is sufficient grounds to reject the request.

The Environmental Investigation Agency, which conducts undercover probes into illegal wildlife trading, says China's seizures of illegal ivory were admirable but "still not sufficient".

Speaking to the UK's The Guardian newspaper, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (Ifaw) said China remained the single largest destination for illegal ivory and only a total ban on China's domestic trade would stem demand.

"Any legal trade creates a smokescreen. Any allowance gives a chance to unscrupulous dealers," a spokeswoman for Ifaw said.

"It's very difficult to know how old ivory is or where it comes from. [Controls] don’t solve the problem."

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