China's output of timber in the first 11 months of last year plummeted 20.4 percent on an annual basis, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Latest figures show that the output of timber from January to November totaled 20.14 million cubic meters with an output of 2.14 million cubic meters in November.

The Chinese government has imposed ban on irrational lumbering in many forest areas, particularly those on the upper reaches of major rivers in a bid to curb soil erosion.

Many experts have blamed the excessive logging of trees in the past as one of the major reasons for the devastating flooding in southern and northeastern China in the summer of 1998.