| With a GDP of nearly $7 trillion in 2007, China has the second largest economy in the world after the US when measured on a purchasing power parity basis. China is also the second largest importer of forest products in the world and is now the top consumer of industrial roundwood. With one fifth of the Earth's total population, China is one of the largest benefactors of globalization. In the foreseeable future, the widespread wealth gap between China and other developed countries will continue to narrow at an accelerating rate. |
| With prosperity comes demand for products and services. On a daily basis in China, millions of newspaper, magazines and reports are read, countless containers of furniture are shipped and countless square feet of wooden flooring and drywall are being installed. As a result of this, China is faced with an acute wood fiber shortage. |
| China has taken dramatic steps in recent years to protect its forest resources. The Natural Forest Protection Program introduced in 1998 by the central government banned the logging of natural forests in most of China. With a domestic supply tightly governed by an Annual Allowable Cut regulatory system and rising demand, China's wood deficit is expected to continue to grow well into the next decade. |
