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China Global Wood Trade Conference

China is planning for its 10th Global Wood Trade Conference to be held in Xi-an from 15-16 September however, given the current global pandemic it is likely to not be a particularly popular event, even if the pandemic has subsided. Source: Timberbiz

China Global Wood Trade Conference (GWT China) is an annual event where global wood traders meet in China. Established to facilitate and promote information exchange and business cooperation for global wood trade community in 2011, GWT China takes place in one of China’s major port cities each year.

Every year, GWT China attracts more than 350 participants, including wood suppliers, importers, wholesalers, distributors, manufacturers as well as trade associations, industry experts, government officials and representatives of international organizations from more than 20 countries.

According to the promotional information Chinese timber demand has been increasing throughout 2019 when the import volume of wood reached 113.89 million cubic metres in China and increased by 1.72%. Compared with 2018, logs imported were 59.81million cubic metres with slight growth 0.09% while lumber imported had 38.08 million cubic meters, rose by 3.58%.

With less than 200 days before the conference starts there would be some doubt in mind about the viability of this event, hence this conference may be postponed or cancelled. There are a number of international speakers on the program who may not be so keen to now attend even if travel restrictions were lifted.