China's Timber Output Continues to DeclineChina's output of timber in the first three months of 2000 plunged 12.0 percent on an annual basis to 8.71 million cubic meters, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.Production of saw wood has also undergone a decline of 2.6 percent year on year, amounting to 467,400 cubic meters. 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. |
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