China's towering basketball star Yao Ming pledged Wednesday to never eat the Chinese delicacy sharks fin soup as part of a campaign to save the endangered fish from extinction.

 

"I pledge to stop eating sharks fin soup and will not do so under any circumstances," Yao told a press conference.

 

"For the sake of our future, please join us in protecting endangered wildlife."

 

Yao, together with Olympic gold medal winning gymnast and sportswear entrepreneur Li Ning, and Chinese pop singer Liu Huan, all joined the campaign organized by environmental group WildAid.

 

The UN Food and Agriculture Organization estimates some 100 million sharks are caught each year and over 10,000 tons of shark fins are traded annually, resulting in 110 species of sharks being endangered.

 

(Xinhua News Agency August 3, 2006)