Forestry Resources and Policies News

l In 2019, State Taxation Administration released a new version of “The Guidelines on Preferential Tax Policies to Support Poverty Alleviation”. It is pointed out that the taxpayers of wood-based panels and their products produced with sawdust and other raw materials enjoy tax incentives: for enterprises that use sawdust, bark and branches as materials to produce wood-based panels and their products, the tax revenue shall be calculated at 90%. 
l In 2019, the total output value of China's forestry industry reached 7.56 trillion yuan, and the import and export value reached 160 billion USD. It is estimated that in 2020, the total output value of the forestry industry will be 8.1 trillion yuan and the import and export value will remain 160 billion USD.
l The forest coverage rate in China has increased from 12.7% in the early 1970s to 22.96% in 2018. The forest area has reached 220 million hectares, and forest stock has reached 17.56 billion cubic meters. Both forest area and forest stock had been increasing for more than 30 years.
l In 2019, China finished afforestation of 106 million mu and forest tending of 114 million mu, launched trials to protect and restore the ecology of degraded grasslands by planting grass, and improved 47.2 million mu of grasslands by planting grass. In 2020, China plans to achieve afforestation of 101 million mu and forest tending of 120 million mu and improve grassland of 51.94 million mu by planting grass.
l From January to November this year, the number of wood processing enterprises in Guigang City has reached more than 3,500, with the total output value of the wood processing industry reaching 32.7 billion yuan, up 28.6% year on year, and the tax revenue reaching 1.015 billion yuan. Among them, there are more than 140 panel processing enterprises above designated scale in Qintang District, with an output value of 18.23 billion yuan, up 76.7% year on year, with tax revenue totaling 610 million yuan, up 94.9% year on year.
l Article 29 of the newly revised forest law of the Russian Federation stipulates that from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2030, coniferous trees can only be cut for processing and use in the territory of the Russian Federation. The bill aims to temporarily ban the export of coniferous timber for commercial use, including camphor pine, spruce, fir, cedar and larch.
l By the end of 2018, the eucalyptus plantation area in Guangxi had exceeded 35 million mu and the annual harvest had exceeded 27 million cubic meters. The annual output value of paper making and wood processing industry with eucalyptus as the main raw material reached 239.5 billion yuan, accounting for 41.6% of the total forestry industry output value.