Spatial and temporal flows of China's forest resources: Development of a framework for evaluating resource efficiency

Population growth and resource scarcity have remained major constraints on China's development for several decades. Under conditions of resource limitations, utilization efficiency is a key concern for Chinese scientists and decision-makers. Based on forest production and trade data for China, we present a conceptual framework for resource flow analysis, calculate the quantities and analyze the characteristics of flows of forest resources (primarily wood and wood byproducts) during the critical early economic development of China (from 1953 to 2000) by converting the forest resource flows into log equivalents (i.e., the quantity of logs required to generate a unit of each type of product). The consumption of forest resources has accelerated throughout the study period, and the structure and efficiency of forest resource utilization have both improved. The proportion of forest resource flows obtained from outside China has increased, and most of this wood was consumed by wood-processing industries. Over time, consumption has shifted from logs and lumber to the pulp and paper and artificial board industries. To improve the economics and sustainability of its use of forest resources, China should increase consumption of forest resources by its pulp and paper industry, more fully utilize forest resources obtained from outside China, and weaken the dependence on these foreign forest resources by promoting increased utilization efficiency and structural readjustment of the forest industry. Therefore, improved forest management is an effective mean of weakening the dependence on foreign forest resources.