Rise in total output value of China’s forestry industry – According to the State Forestry Administration (SFA), in the first half of 2017 the total output value of China’s forest industry rose 7.4% to RMB 2.77 trillion. The total value of China’s foreign trade in wood product rose 11% to US$71 billion.

The increase has been put down to recent policy changes which promoted the national forestry and forest industries. In the first half of 2017, in compliance with the 13th Five- Year Plan for Forest Industry Development, regional plans have been released by 11 national departments.

National policies promote optimising the structure and productive capacity of enterprises in the sector. In the forestry sector an emphasis has been placed on forest tourism. In the first half of 2017 the numbers of tourist visiting forest areas rose 17% to 700 million and this generated an income of around RMB550 billion. In the second half of 2017 the SFA will continue to accelerate the development of the wood processing industries through providing macro-economic guidance and support.

In addition, timber industry demonstration zones for leading enterprises will be further promoted. In terms of specific measures, the SFA will speed up the establishment of the national forestry industry investment fund and the so-called emerging forestry strategic industries development fund projects.

Source: ITTO Tropical Timber Market Report & Global Wood