State set to expand multibillion yuan forestry industry

The total production of the forestry industry in 2012 was 3,950 billion yuan ($640 billion) in 2012, benefiting 450 million farmers, officials said on Thursday in Beijing.

Sun Jian, an official with the State Forestry Administration, said that in the past 10 years, the annual growth rate of the industry in China averaged 24 percent.

Forestry-related income makes up 20 percent of farmers’ income on average, he said.

Sun said the government would continue to expand the scale of the industry.

Their vision is to reach a yearly output of 9,000 billion yuan by 2020, he said.

To reach that goal, the State will nurture 10 sub-industries, including raw material forest cultivation, bamboo, forest tourism, wildlife breeding and utilization and biotechnology.