China to Face Big Shortage of Timber
COPYRIGHT 2000 XINHUA NEWS AGENCY
November 2, 2000
As China will reduce its production of timber by 10 percent annually, the shortage of timber products is expected to widen in the coming decade.
Thanks to the government's strategy in ecological protection, the supply of timber and large-diameter wood from natural forest will definitely decrease, said industry experts.
It is forecast that China's per capita consumption will reach about 0.3 cubic meters by 2010, which is still much less than the current world average of one cubic meter.
The fast economic development in China, and the ban on exporting log by other countries for the purpose of environmental protection will surely make China feel the pinch in timber supply.
Under such situation, the state forestry administration has decided to grow fast-growing trees in the forest area of northeastern and southern parts of China, and in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, to ease the expected strained supply of timber.