 |
American Hardwood Exporters Gather in Guangzhou
China's housing reform and ambitious development strategy for its western region have provided an opportunity for American hardwood exporters, an American hardwood industry insider said Wednesday.
Michael Snow, director of the American Hardwood Export Council, told a press conference in this capital of south China's Guangdong Province that his organization is fully aware that China has become the largest hardwood importer as well as the largest furniture exporter in Asia.
Snow is here to participate in the organization's Southeast Asia and China Region Conference, which is slated for June 7. It has gathered over 600 industry leaders from American and Asian countries to Guangzhou.
Guangzhou has been chosen as the conference site, according to Snow, for its adjacency to four wood-processing bases in the province and its radiating role to China's western region, a growing market following that of the better-off coastal area.
Sources said that American hardwood products sold 278 million US dollars-worth of goods in Southeast Asia and China last year, compared with 54 million U.S. dollars-worth in 1991.
Snow said that over the past five years American hardwood sales in China have almost doubled every year. China's timber import growth is attributed to the country's urban housing reform and a logging ban in large areas of forest resources.
He expected the demand to be further boosted by the increasing disposable income and swelling consumption demand in China's western region.
Meanwhile, business people and members of the American Forest and Paper Association here for the conference expressed their support for China's accession to the World Trade Organization.
In This Section
|