China may have to import 10 million cubic meters of timber this year due to increases markets demands and nationwide ban on logging.

An insider is quoted as saying that imports this year will likely increase by 12 percent over last year's. Ji Wei, president of the Beijing Branch of the China National Timber Exchange Marketsaid that a nationwide ban on logging will be implemented this year after 18 months of preparation.

For decades, China's forestry industry has engaged mainly in logging, caring less for sustained forestry development, which resulted in serious land erosion. After devastating floods that occurred in 1998, the central government decided to ban logging in major natural forests.

China is believed to have imported 8.9 million cubic meters of timber last year, compared with 7 million in 1998.