On March 27th, the 2008 Consulting & Training Conference on Policies Concerning Sino-Russia Forest Resource Exploitation and Timber Processing Investment was held at the Beijing International Bamboo and Rattan Tower. The conference was hosted by the State Forestry Administration, WWF, Forest Trends, and organized by China National Forestry Industry Association and China Wood International, Inc. Li Yu-cai, deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, and Mikhail Girjaev, deputy director of Russia Forest Service represented the Chinese and Russian governments respectively. Duncan Pollard, general director of WWF, attended and addressed the conference.

Deputy director of the State Forestry Administration, Li Yu-cai pointed out that the Chinese government pays close attention to the sustainable development of forests, and would continue to cooperate with the rest of the world on issues of afforestation, rational logging and utilization of wood, wild animal and plant conservation, biodiversity protection, sustained development of forest resources, and modern management of forests. Due to the high levels of cooperation between China and Russia, both countries share common interests. Recently, the cooperation between China and Russia on forest logging, wood processing, wood based panel manufacture, as well as pulp & papermaking have further strengthened their relationship. The investment of Chinese companies in Russias forestry industry was close to US$1 billion, while the trade involving forest products accounted for 10% of the two countries total trade.

Deputy Director of the Russian Forest Service, Girjaev also highly appraised Sino-Russian forestry cooperation. Chinas rapid economic development has laid a solid foundation for forest cooperation between China and Russia. The forest area in Russia currently totals 850 million hectare, and this provides a good opportunity to expand the cooperation between the two countries. Girjaev expected that the conference would become a platform for promoting exchange of forest information, discussing issues and promoting both mutual understanding and cooperation between China and Russia.
About 19 officers, experts and leaders, from both governments, various associations, and banks, participated in the conference. They delivered excellent and topical speeches about the investment condition and policies in Russia and the policies supporting the investment of Chinese companies in Russia.
With the fast development of Chinas forest-based industries, the scale and quality of Chinese companies is continuously upgrading. The quality of products, conservation of energy and resources, and management and technologies in many cases have already reached the best global standards. Although China is seriously short of forest resources, Russias forest resources are abundant. This provides a solid foundation for Sino-Russia cooperation to the mutual benefit of both countries. The purpose of this conference was to offer a good chance for Chinese companies to better understand investment conditions and opportunities in Russia, and to promote cooperation with Russia for additional investments in forest resources and wood processing.  

This conference was welcomed by many companies, both at home and abroad, and received an enthusiastic response from many of the companies participating in the conference. The event showed high interest in investments in Russia. To promote the cooperation between China and Russia, its really necessary for Chinese government to branch out into such activities to support investment of Chinese companies in Russia.

Li Hong-fan, the president of China Wood International, Inc, which was the organizer of the conference, pointed out that, during this critical period in Sino-Russia cooperation, China Wood would continue to provide a link between Chinese forestry companies and the government. This conference is just the beginning of Sino-Russia cooperation, and more valuable activities will be prepared in the future. For example, the Sino-Russia Investment and Trade Negotiation Conference planned for September will provide a forum and exhibition to help Chinese companies to obtain an in-depth understanding of investment condition in Russia, and promote further cooperation between China and Russia.