China's bamboo industry is playing an increasingly important role in China's economy, with its annual output value exceeding 17 billion yuan, according to figures from the State Forestry Administration.
Over the past 20 years, China's acreage of bamboo has grown by 50,000 hectares annually to 4.2 million hectares, a leap of more than one million hectares over that in late 1970s.
Bamboo products are now popular in a wide range of sectors including architecture, paper-making, food, furniture, package, transportation, medicine and tourism.
Bamboo products also sell well in more than 30 countries and regions, earning nearly 500 million US dollars on an annual basis, surging over 3 times since the early 1990s.