Dear friends from the press,

Good morning.

On the eve of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), we convene here today this press conference to brief you on the progress of China's forestry in promoting sustainable development since the United Nations Conference on Environmental Development (UNCED) in 1992. Hereby, on behalf of China State Forestry Administration, I would like to extend our welcome to all the friends present, and our sincere gratitude to all walks of life for their concern and consistent support for China's forestry.

China is a major forestry country in the world and plays an important role in the global course of sustainable forestry development. The forestry sector in China shoulders such important functions as development and protection of the forest ecosystem, combating and improvement of the desert ecosystem, management and rehabilitation of the wetland ecosystem, protection of wild fauna and flora, and maintenance of biological diversity. Since the UNCED in 1992, forestry in China has been developing rapidly, and has not only effectively solved issues concerning sustainable development of the sector per se, but also provided sound ecological guarantee and material base for sustainable socio-economic development of the country at large. In the past two decades, we have made the following consistent endeavors to promote forestry development and sustainable development:

First, strengthen ecological forest development to provide sound ecological guarantee for sustainable development. Since 1992, particularly after entering the 21st century, the Chinese government has increased the financial support for the forestry sector, with an accumulated amount close to RMB one trillion Yuan to implement a series of national key ecological development programs, such as the Natural Forest Protection Program(NTPP), the Conversion of Slope Farmland to Forest Program(CCSFP), and the Sandification Control Program for Areas in the Vicinity of Beijing and Tianjin (SCP). We have continuously carried out the National Voluntary Tree Planting Campaign, and enhanced forest resource management and biodiversity protection. All of these achievements have been well recognized internationally. Despite the continuous downturn of the global forest resources, China has achieved dual increases of its forest cover and the stocking volume: the forested area has increased from 134 million hm2 in 1992 to the current 195 million hm2, with a net increase of 62 million hm2; the forest cover from 13.92% to 20.36%, with a net increase of 6.44 percentage points; the forest stocking volume from 10.1 billion m3 to 13.7 billion m3, with a net increase of 3.6 billion m3. The area of forest plantations stands at 61.68 million hm2, ranking the first in the world; the total carbon stock reaches 7.811 billion tons, providing ecological service at an annual value of RMB 10 trillion Yuan. Meanwhile, the rate of desertification has reduced from an annual expansion of 3,436 km2 at the end of the last century to the current annual reduction of 1,717 km2; 41 wetlands of international importance have been identified, providing effective protection for about 50% of the natural wetlands; the area of nature reserves under jurisdiction of the forestry sector has increased to 123 million hm2, accounting for 80% of the national total or 12.77% of China's total land area, protecting 90% of the terrestrial ecosystem types, 85% the wild fauna population and 65% of the higher plant communities.

Second, vigorously develop forestry industry to bring into play its important economic and social roles for promoting sustainable development. Forestry has been identified as one of the ten green economy sectors by UNEP in 2011. Since 1992, China's forestry industry has shown strong momentum of development: the outputs of resin, wood-based panels, bamboo and rattan furniture, and wood flooring rank the first internationally and forest ecotourism and the woody grain and oil sector have developed quite fast. Between 1993 and 2011, the gross output value of the forestry sector reached RMB 15.3 trillion Yuan, with the annual output value rising from RMB 99.4 billion Yuan in 1993 to RMB 2.83 trillion Yuan in 2011, or a 20% growth rate annually on average. During the same period, the trade volume of forest products increased from USD$ 7.5 billion to USD$ 116 billion, which makes China a major country for forest product production, processing and trade. Every year the forestry industry creates jobs for more than 45 million farmers, accounting for 37.5% of the surplus rural workforce, which has effectively promoted the regional development and livelihood improvement in the rural areas.

Third, deepen forestry reform to provide a sound impetus for sustainable development of forestry. By 2011, we have contracted 178 million hm2, or 97.8% of the collective forests, to the rural households, and the reform of the supporting mechanisms, including the forest insurance, collateral loans, and compensation for public forests, have been improved and the objective of protecting the ecosystems and benefiting the farmers has been achieved. Over 400 million farmers have directly participated in and benefited from forest cultivation. Meanwhile, we have been actively exploring reform of the State-owned forest farms and public forest areas, to innovate forestry development mechanisms, strengthen the dynamics and attraction of forestry development, and further liberate and increase productivity of the forestry sector.

Fourth, implement the opening-up strategy in forestry to contribute to the global course of sustainable forestry development. Since 1992, the Chinese forestry sector has been serious in implementation of international conventions such as the United Nations Convention on Combating Desertification (UNCCD), the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance (the Ramsar Convention), the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (the CITES Convention), the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD), and promoted implementation of the Non Legally Binding Instrument on All Types of Forests (NLBI). We have established cooperative relations with dozens of countries and related international organizations and signed 74 bilateral agreements with foreign governments or government agencies, and launched with other countries two intergovernmental organizations, namely: the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) and the Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation (APFNet). An all-round pattern of international forestry cooperation that covers numerous numbers of fields at different levels has been initially in place.

Despite the remarkable achievements in China's forestry development in the past two decades, we still face great challenges such as the mismatch between ecological carrying capacity and the needs of national economic growth, fragile overall functions of the forest ecosystem and the conflict between supply and demand of major forest products. Development of green economy and attainment of sustainable development will provide a unique opportunity for the full play of the roles of multiple functions and the social, economic and ecological benefits of forests. Current global challenges facing the mankind such as climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty, water shortage, depletion of renewable energy etc. are all closely related to forestry. To meet these challenges in an effective manner, it requires enhancing the political will for forestry development, increasing investment, innovating policies and market measures, and releasing the potential of forestry for promoting sustainable development.

Looking into the future, the Chinese government will continue to increase investment in forestry to strengthen cultivation of forests, protect and rehabilitate wetlands, combat land desertification, protect wild fauna and flora and their habitats, and continue to deepen forestry reform and opening up to the outside world. To this end, We will strive to increase the forest area by 40 million hm2 and the stocking volume by 1.3 billion m3 on the 2005 basis; bring under control over half of the 530,000 km2 of desertified land; increase the area of nature reserves by 17 million hm2, providing effective shelter for 95% of the national key wild fauna and flora species and all the representative types of ecosystems; increase the protected areas of natural wetlands by 3.6 million hm2 to reverse the downturn of natural wetlands. By then, it is expected that the ecological conditions in China will be significantly improved.

Thank you very much.

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