Abstract:Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) aims to ensure the survival of endangered wildlife species from the threat of international trade, and is one of the powerful international conventions in the field of wildlife conservation. As an important part of the party's compliance body, scientific authority (SA) is responsible for ensuring the international wildlife trade to meet the requirements of sustainability, legality and traceability. The mandate of SA is involved into many aspects, like starting up the scientific research program for obtaining the basic information on wildlife species, providing the scientific advice for import and export trade of wild animal and plant species, attending the CITES Conference of Parties on behalf of China, and promoting the popularization of science for enhancing the public awareness of wildlife conservation. As China's CITES SA, since its establishment, the Endangered Species Scientific Commission (ESSC) has made a series of important achievements, which have been highly praised at home and abroad, based on the research capability of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the hard work of scientists and the close cooperation with relevant departments and institutions. Nevertheless, for fulfilling the obligation of CITES scientifically, ESSC needs to overcome a series of challenges by strengthening the research capacity building, promoting the multidisciplinary teamwork, developing the international cooperation, building expert think tanks, and constructing the wildlife information platform, so as to make greater contributions to the global wildlife conservation.