China and countries in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation should work together to protect shared biodiversity, a leading botanist has said.

"China shares very long borders with five SAARC countries: Afghanistan, Pakistan, Nepal, India and Bhutan," Pei Shengji, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Kunming Institute of Botany, said.

Sri Lanka, the Maldives and Bangladesh are the other members of the body.