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Wood Science and Technology

Forestry and Forest Industry in China

Jingxin WangDivision of Forestry and Natural Resources

West Virginia UniversityMorgantown, WV 26506

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• Overview

• China’s Forests

• Forest Conservation Projects

• Forest Industry

Presentation Outline

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Overview• China has 195.45 million hectares of

forests (289 million acres), 4.95% of the world’s forests, 5th position in the world.

• Current forest coverage: 20.36% (18% in 2003).

• The total standing stock volume is 17,913 million cubic meters.

• Forestland ownership: owned by the State; 60% is managed by collective farms and 40% by the state.

• Total number of employees in Forestry, Wood industry, and Pulp and paper industry: 12.9 million (2000 data).

• U.S. is the major forest products export trade partner.

(Source: State Forestry Administration. 2009. 7th National Forest Resource Inventory Report)

809

478

310 303195 184

0

200

400

600

800

1000

Russia Brazil Canada USA China Australia

In million hectares

(Source: Deutsche Bank. 2007. China Forestry Industry)

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Overview (Cont’d)

Forestry Education in China

Currently, there are 200 universities and colleges in China that have undergraduate and junior college studies in forestry subject, including 6 forestry universities and colleges, 12 forestry technical colleges and 182 agricultural universities/colleges and other types of universities.

Forest Research in China

Chinese Academy of Forestry

Provincial Forest Research Institutes

Universities

(Source: State Forestry Administration, China)

(Source: Deutsche Bank. 2007. China Forestry Industry)

Forest Area by Forest Type

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LegendConiferous

Broad-leaved

Mixed

Bamboo

China’s Forest Distribution

Coniferous forest Mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest Deciduous broad-leaved forest Evergreen broad-leaved forest, Monsoon rain forest Rain forest

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Coniferous forest in the northeast

Mixed coniferous and broad-leaved forest

China’s Forest Distribution (Cont’d)

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Deciduous broad-leaved forest

Evergreen broad-leaved forest

China’s Forest Distribution (Cont’d)

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Monsoon rain forest

Rain forest

China’s Forest Distribution (Cont’d)

China’s Forests - River Valleys

• 7 of the 10 largest river basins in China: Forest area – 70%; Stock volume – 60%• The area and stock volume of the forests in the drainage areas of the Heilongjiang River

and the Yangtze River make up about 50% of the total.

Stat Unit Forest Coverage(%)

Forest Area(million hectares)

Stock Volume(million cubic meters)

Yangtze River Valley 34.78 61.87 3567

Heilongjiang River Valley

42.63 39.70 3317

Pearl River Valley 49.25 21.77 840

Yellow River Valley 16.15 12.15 465

Liaohe River Valley 28.13 6.18 162

Huaihe River Valley 14.63 4.38 157

Haihe River Valley 16.25 3.84 73

(Source: State Forestry Administration. 2009. the 7th national forest inventory)

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• Major regions:– Northeast Inner Mongolia– Southwest mountainous region– Southeast low mountain and hilly forest region– Northwest mountainous forest region– Tropical forest region

• Forest area of the 5 major forest regions - More than 70% of the country's total.

• Stock volume of these regions - Nearly 90% of China's total.

China’s Forests - Forest Regions

(Source: State Forestry Administration. 2009. the 7th national forest inventory)

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33.82% 33.43%

14.82%12.03%

5.90%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Youngforest

Middle-aged

forest

Near-matureforest

Matureforest

Over-matureforest

Arbor Forest Stock Volume by Age Group

China’s ForestsArbor Forest Area and Stock Volume

11.13%

28.90%

19.83%23.64%

16.50%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

Youngforest

Middle-agedforest

Near-matureforest

Matureforest

Over-matureforest

Arbor Forest Area by Age Group

(Source: State Forestry Administration. 2009. the 7th national forest inventory)

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Forest Stock Volume by Forest Type (million m3)

45.81%

6.60%

35.38%

0.96%

11.25%

0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Protectiveforest

Specialpurpose

forest

Timberforest

Fuel-woodforest

Economicforest

China’s Forests - Forest Quality

• Arbor forest stock volume is 85.88 m3/ha.• Natural forest stock volume is 98.64

m3/ha.• Plantation is 49.01 m3/ha.

• Average annual growth of arbor forest stands: 3.85 m3/ha

• Average DHB 13.3cm. • Average number of trees per ha

is 916.

(Source: State Forestry Administration. 2009. the 7th national forest inventory)

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Tropical

Southeast

Northwest

Southwest

Northeast

Farmland shelter and sand-fixing forest project

Three-North Shelter Forest

Coastline shelter forest projectThe Yangtze river shelterbelt forest project

Major Forest Conservation Projects

• Natural forest protection • Grain for green project• Wind and sand storm source control project• Three-north and Yangtze River basin shelter forest system • Wildlife and nature reserve establishment • Fast-growing and high-yield forests

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• Completely stop harvesting in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River and the upper and middle reaches of the Yellow River.

• Significantly decrease the amount of log production in the Northeast, Inner Mongolia forest regions.

• Carefully protect natural forests in other areas by the local authorities.

• The project targets to decrease the log production to 19.91 million cubic meters, and protect 94.3 million hectares of forests.

Major Forest Conservation Projects Natural Forest Protection Project (NFPP)

For example, a project in Qinling mountains.

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• Control 22.68 million hectares of area with soil erosion and water problems.

• Fix 26.68 million hectares of dessertifation area.

• Decrease 260 million tons of sediment which flushed into the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers.

Major Forest Conservation ProjectsGrain for Green Project

Grain for green project in Shanxi Province.

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This project is mainly to deal with the sandstorms that occur around Beijing area.

It targets to increase the forest and grass coverage rate from 6.7% to 21.4% by the end of 2010.

Major Forest Conservation ProjectsWind and Sand Storm Control

Wind and sand storm source control project in Inner Mongolia.

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Three-North and Yangtze River Basin Shelter Forest System Project - ”Green Great Wall”

• The biggest shelter forest project in China, started in 1978 and will last until 2050.

• Cover 42.4% of the total land area of China, including northeast, north central, and northwest, 13 provinces or 551 counties.

• The plantation area will reach 35.62 million hectares, and forest coverage rate will be 14.95% in the three-north area by 2050.

Major Forest Conservation Projects (Cont’d)

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Three-north projects in Xinjiang and Ningxia

Major Forest Conservation Projects

Three-north projects in Shanxi

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Three-north projects in Inner Mongolia

Major Forest Conservation Projects

Three-north projects in Heilongjiang and Liaoning

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Forest Industry Output

Forestry industry output value in 2009, with a total of 1,580 billion Yuan ($230.59 billion – $1 = 6.8 Yuan).

* Estimated.

Cultivation and forest byproducts

23%

Wood processing23%

Forest tourism9%

Pulp and paper8%

Horticulture6%

Forest operations*2%

Forest bioproducts, biofuels, chemicals, bamboo, and others

29%

(Source: State Forestry Administration. 2009. the 7th national forest inventory)

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0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

1997 1999 2001 2003 2005 2007

Log production in million m3 from 1997 to 2008

Forest Industry – Log Production

GuangXi13%

FuJian12%

HuNan10%

GuanDong9%YunNan

7%JiangXi

6%

HuBei4%

JiLin4%

HeiLongjiang6%

Inner Mongolia3%

Others23%

AnHui3%

69.38 million m3 in 2009

(Source: State Forestry Administration. 2009. the 7th national forest inventory)

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Bamboo forest in Guangxi1.2 billion stems of bamboo in 2009.

Forest Industry – Log Production

3-year old eucalyptus in GuangxiNormally, harvested at 4-8 year-old.

(Source: State Forestry Administration. 2009. National forest production statistics)

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Forest Industry – Harvesting Operations

Tree-length system

Felling Delimbing LoadingSkidding

Log system

Felling Delimbing Bucking Skidding Loading

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Falling direction controlFalling direction control

Forest Industry - Felling

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Forest Industry – Delimbing and Bucking

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Forest Industry - Skidding

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Forest Industry – Loading and Transportation

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Ground-based skidding development in Heilongjiang Province.

Forest Industry (Cont’d)

(Source: Wang, L. 2009. Development of forest industry in China)

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machi ne ani malMachine Animal

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Questions??For more information, please contact: Dr. Jingxin WangDivision of Forestry and Natural ResourcesWest Virginia Universityjxwang@wvu.edu