China's Output of Timber Continues to Decline
9/11/99
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Title: China's Output of Timber Continues to Decline
Source: Xinhua
Status: Copyright 1999, contact source for permission to reprint
Date: September 11, 1999
BEIJING (Sept. 11) XINHUA - China's output of timber in the first six
months of this year plummeted 22.5 percent on an annual basis,
according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Latest figures show that the output of timber from January to June
totaled 13.82 million cubic meters with an output of 1.34 million
cubic meters in June.
The Chinese government has imposed ban on irrational lumbering in
many forest areas, particularly those on the upper reaches of major
rivers in a bid to curb soil erosion.
Many experts have blamed the excessive logging of trees in the past
as one of the major reasons for last summer's devastating flooding in
southern and northeastern China.