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The Forests of China | |||
| China has a great variety of forest types. In the northern cold temperate
zone, the forest is composed of coniferous trees, followed by a mixed forest
of deciduous and broad-leaved trees in the temperate zone. The warm temperate
zone is dominated by a deciduous broad-leaved forest, evergreen broad-leaved
forest in the subtropical zone and finally rain forest and monsoon in the
tropical zone. Yunnan and Chinese red pine as well as oak, larch and Chinese
fir are some of the most common trees to be found in China.
Forests are organized into three types. State Forests account for by far the greatest part, with 70 % of total timber reserves. There are also Collective Forest Farms and Co-operative and Industrial Forest Farms. A total of 131 forest bureaus have been created, and engage in activities relating to industry, especially logging. To ensure the availability of forest resources, 4 256 State Forest Farms and 110 000 Collective Farms have been established across the country. The government aims to increase forest cover to 15% of its land base by the year 2000. Since 1978, China has been following an "Open Door" policy for its economic reforms, which has resulted in very rapid growth in the past few years. China must import to satisfy its huge and growing demand in wood products. Currently, China imports from Russia, the United States, Indonesia among others. Preferred species are light colored woods, such as ash and maple, which are popular as interior woods. The main wood products produced in China are plywood, particleboard and medium density fiberboard (MDF). Of these, MDF is the most important, and production quality has recently been upgraded with the importation of production lines from Sweden. Bamboo is sometimes used as an alternate to wood fiber in the production of fiberboard and plywood. The government continues to invite foreign investment to upgrade this sector. Many of the new mills are locate in large cities in the east, such as Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou and Beijing. The Fourth National Forest Inventory, completed in 1993, showed that the annual increment of forest area and standing volume were 1.65% and 70.2 mm3, respectively, when compared to the results of the Third National Forest Inventory (1984-1988). China has followed a policy of afforestation of barren hillsides and poor agricultural land. Since 1978, the National People's Congress have issued a series of regulations and policies, clearly indicating that the government is laying a foundation for the sustainable development of forestry in China. |
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