Guangxi's forestry industry burgeons

The Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has recently issued a three-year action plan to rapidly expand its forestry industry. The blueprint projects that the total output value of the sector is expected to hit 1.3 trillion yuan ($182.3 million) by 2025.

The region will accelerate the scale of its operations on forest land, adjust its tree species structures and transform its low-yield and low-efficiency forests.

Emphasis will be placed on cultivating local tree species, precious tree species and medium to large-diameter timber - to continuously improve forest stock volumes and wood production per unit area.

What's more, inducements will be provided to continue promoting the development of raw material bases for crops such as oil tea, pine resins, star anise, cinnamon and agarwood on barren hills - as well as to develop abandoned land and unused land that is not reserved for arable land.

By 2025, the utilization rate of improved tree species for afforestation in the region is expected to reach 85 percent. The area of commercial timber forests will be maintained at over 125 million acres - more than 20 million acres of national reserve forests will be established - and the annual supply of harvestable timber will exceed 60 million cubic meters. 

It's projected that the scale of planting for economic trees in the region will be maintained at over 50 million acres, with an annual stable supply of over 1 million metric tons of oil tea seed.

Efforts will be made to further enhance the quality and efficiency of the oil tea industry - as well as the understory economy and the forestry ecological tourism and forest health industry - in order to boost the forestry industries.

It's projected that by 2025, the total area of oil tea in the region will reach over 11.52 million acres and the annual production of tea oil will reach 256,000 tons. Furthermore, the development of the understory economy will stabilize at over 70 million acres, with an annual output value of 140 billion yuan. 

Overall, the forestry ecological tourism and forest health industry there is expected to receive 250 million visitors annually and generate an output value of 250 billion yuan.