China's Output of Timber Continues to Decline
12/26/99
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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: December 26, 1999
BEIJING (Dec. 26) XINHUA - China's output of timber in the first ten
months of this year plummeted 22.9 percent on an annual basis,
according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
Latest figures show that the output of timber from January to October
totaled 17.96 million cubic meters with an output of 1.31 million
cubic meters in October.
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.