China Introduces Series of Logging Bans, Forestry Official Says

(Beijing) – China is rolling out a series of bans aimed at protecting more of its forests, a forestry official says.

Zhang Jianlong, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, said a logging ban has already been put in place in some key areas, especially in the country's three northeastern provinces, on trial basis this year.

The prohibition will be extended to all state-owned forests next year, and logging on privately owned land will be stopped by the end of 2017, he said. The bans will cut timber output by 50 million cubic meters per year – the equivalent of 30 percent of logs, Zhang said.