13.03.2020
In order to promote the legal and sustainable trade of tropical timber and to facilitate trade between operators, ATIBT and CTWPDA are strengthening the information exchanges and experience sharings on legality issues and sustainable management of tropical forests, and also on the news of forest-wood sector.
We would suggested to following articles concerning respectively:
1. The impact of Coronavirus on the Chinese forest industry
2. The transformation of the Chinese forestry sector induced by the amendment of the Chinese Forestry Law
1. The impact of Coronavirus on the Chinese forest industry
The Coronavirus epidemic in China has severely reduced all activities, forcing employees to work from home, resulting in a drop in domestic demand, very high stock levels and saturated storage capacity, and interrupting the transport of raw materials and products. The estimated stock would be able to provide about 2 months of consumption.
In order to ensure the resumption of activities, central and local governments have put in place various policies to stimulate domestic demand by reducing taxes and fees and promote the recovery of the Chinese economy.
According to a survey carried out for the wood industry, by the end of February 2020, about 60% of companies had partially resumed work and productivity had increased by about 50% as before.
According to academician Zhong Nanshan, the coronavirus epidemic will be brought under control in China by the end of April. Until then, domestic demand will stimulate explosive growth.
Read the full article : Chinese wood industry being gradually recovery
2. The transformation of the Chinese forestry sector induced by the amendment of the Chinese Forestry Law
As part of the follow-up to the amendment to China’s forestry law that will come into force on 1 July 2020, the article published on 12 February 2020 by Indufor highlights the transformation of China’s forestry sector induced by this amendment, which aims to integrate the principles of sustainability and nature protection. Focus on :
« The newly revised law prohibits the purchase, processing, and transport of illegally sourced timber. It provides a stronger entry point for forestry authorities to supervise and inspect potentially illegal timber, including punishment measures.
However, given the law’s focus on domestic sources, it does not clearly address illegal timber sourced from abroad. China’s National Forestry and Grassland Administration has been continuing to work with other government agencies and research institutes to develop Administrative Measures to strengthen procedures to verify the legality of imported wood. »
« Market operators will need to adapt quickly to stay active in the market. In order to secure stable wood supply in the long run, Chinese companies operating in wood processing and pulp-and-paper production are actively looking for overseas investment opportunities in forest concessions, plantation or joint-ventures.
The sweeping changes to China’s forest sector legislation and institutions will have overarching and long-lasting impacts, not just domestically, but also on the broader state of the world’s forests, availability of forest resources, direction of trade, and role of forests in providing key ecosystem services »
Read the full article : Forest Law Amendment to Transform China’s Forest Sector
