Foreigners will no longer need to get approval from national-level forestry authorities in order to hunt and collect specimens of terrestrial animals that are not under national protection, according to an official notice by the State Council released Wednesday.

According to the notice, related activities will be regulated through hunting licenses, and the right to issue these licenses will be transferred from forestry authorities above county-level down to those at county-level.

The hunting of wild animals by foreigners has long been a controversial topic, and experts were divided in their views on the impact the new changes would have on the protection of wild animals in China.

"The changes will strike a disastrous blow to the protection of wild animals in China, which is already grim," Jiang Jinsong, a professor with the Institute of Science, Technology and Society at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times.

According to the Beijing Times, hunting grounds have generated huge economic revenues in some regions, but only 20 percent of the profits have been used to protect wild animals, while most of the money goes to local forestry authorities.

Attracted by the large profits, local forestry authorities may issue more hunting licenses to foreigners in the future, Jiang said.

But Wang Wei, general manager of China Adventure Travel company and a veteran agent for international hunting, said on his Sina Weibo account the changes will have little influence on the status quo.

"Except for boars, ring-necked pheasants and a few other animals, there were few animals not included in the protected animals list. These animals can be hunted almost for free in foreign countries," Wang wrote.

Yu Fengqin, a senior member of the China Wild Life Conservation Association, echoed Wang's view.

"The changes will not necessarily result in the excessive issuing of hunting licenses, as we have strict requirements for the issuing of hunting licenses under the law," Yu told the Global Times.

"For foreigners to hunt animals that are excluded from national protection, they are required to get an arms license from county-level public security authorities before they get a hunting license, and for security reasons the license will be very difficult to get," Yu said. In addition, there are also restrictions on the species, quantity and location of the animals that are being hunted, she added.

In August last year, the State Forestry Administration approved a hunting application for seven foreigners, which drew heated criticism over China's protection of wild animals. The controversy ended when the seven foreigners withdrew their application.