Joyce Lam presenting at the meeting in Beijing

ProForest recently presented at the second biannual meeting of the China and the Global Forest Products Trade, which took place on the 1st and 2nd of November in Beijing.

This series of meetings mirror the illegal logging update in Chatham House, London and aims to establish a regular open meeting place for key Chinese stakeholders and regional partners to foster a constructive discussion about the international trade of sustainable and legal forest products with producer and consumer countries.

The meeting included presentations on China’s trade relations with other regions/ countries, China’s initiatives in tackling illegal logging and promoting sustainable forestry, and tools for verifying and certifying products. 

ProForest's China trade expert, Joyce Lam, shared her experience in working with Chinese suppliers in improving their timber sourcing. Joyce used a few examples to illustrate the challenges, difficulties and opportunities in implementing responsible sourcing in China. Some key points from her presentation:

• Implementing responsible sourcing in China is difficult but not impossible.
• Engaging with suppliers is essential.
• Big choices: to stay with the same suppliers or find new ones? If a supplier shows no commitment to comply with the policy, the only option is to find new suppliers.
• Setting targets with agreed realistic timeframe for continuous improvement so that it is not just a paper-policy.

If you would like to know more about trade in China and how to assist Chinese companies in improving their supply chains, please contact Joyce through info@proforest.net

Presentation in Chinese

Presentation in English