China unveils development plans for forestry industry

BEIJING -- China's top forestry authority has made plans to boost the forestry industry and set development goals.

The industry pledges to improve its gross output by 50 percent by 2025, according to a recent guideline by the National Forestry and Grassland Administration (NFGA).

The output of economic forest products will reach 250 million tonnes by 2025, with total imports and exports of forest products expected to hit $240 billion.

The NFGA said by 2035, the country will see further expansion of the industry with more improved structure and sufficient supply of high-quality forest resources.

To achieve such targets, continued efforts will be made to increase the supply of wood and establish more demonstration bases for the industry.

Apart from supporting the diverse development of the forest economy, the NFGA will be dedicated to promoting forest tourism while conserving natural resources.

The administration added it would maximize the use of e-commerce platforms to promote the online-offline integration of forest product sales.

China's forestry industry output reached 7.33 trillion yuan (about $1.1 trillion) in 2018, a 2.88-percent growth from 2017, the NFGA data showed.