Timber investment firm China Forestry Inc is to change its business strategy from manufacturing to purchasing forest user right certificates, as it moves with the economic climate.
The company had previously announced plans to construct wood and paper products manufacturing facilities, but will now centre on acquiring forest user right certificates, while simultaneously pairing down its timber harvesting strategies.
Chief executive officer Yuan Tian said that “long term, we are confident that demand for timber in China will create manufacturing opportunities”, but “current economic conditions create a unique opportunity for our company to grow through acquisition”.
“Given the uncertainty in the global markets for construction and furniture, the Chinese government’s emphasis on promoting sustainable forest management through land tenure reforms and China’s urbanisation trends that indicate an increasing migration of owners of forest user right certificates into the cities, we feel that now is the time to focus on timber aggregation through acquisition of forest user right certificates,” said Mr Tian.
