Patterns and Risks of China’s Snake Trade Driven by Medicinal and Culinary Traditions

China plays a multifaceted and pivotal role in the global snake trade network, with its trade dynamics heavily influenced by domestic market demand and international regulatory policies. Based on official CITES trade data from 1975 to 2023, this study systematically analyzes the scale, species composition, source dynamics, and potential risks of China’s legal snake trade by using Whole Organism Equivalents (WOEs) and trade measures adjusted for reporting effort. The results show that the cumulative trade volume exceeded 11.7 million WOEs and that China’s role underwent a major transformation from a “supply center” in the early 1990s to a “consumption hub” by 2012. Export patterns were dominated by colubrid snakes (81.5% of total exports), with the oriental ratsnake (Ptyas mucosa) alone accounting for 56.8%; this reflects a distinctive trade landscape shaped by the domestic culture of “medicine and food homology.” Although the proportion of captive-bred individuals has increased since 2010, a dual-supply system comprising both wild-sourced and captive-bred individuals persists. Furthermore, we identified several misreported species, exemplified by the non-native common cobra Naja naja being recorded as wild-sourced exports from China. Notably, the live venomous snake trade exhibits an extreme geographic concentration, with over 93% of exports directed to Hong Kong, thereby posing significant biosecurity and public health risks. In conclusion, future governance should move beyond simple trade bans by utilizing molecular tools to correct identification biases and by implementing regulatory frameworks modeled on the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) system. This approach will address biosecurity risks within the trade chain and help achieve a scientifically informed balance between ecological conservation and livelihood security.