In an exclusive interview, we had the opportunity to speak with Wu Huanggui, the manager of Fujian Zhuli Home Technology Co., Ltd. The company is located in the Yong’an Min-Tai Agricultural (Bamboo and Forestry) Industrial Park in Sanming, Fujian. As we enter the peak sales season known as “golden September and silver October,” Wu provided some valuable insights into the booming bamboo furniture market. “With more people becoming aware of eco-friendly and sustainable consumption, the bamboo furniture sector is set for rapid growth. Our team is working overtime to meet the increasing demand from cities like Shanghai and Shenzhen, and we project our performance will exceed 40 million yuan this year,” he explained.
Sanming is often referred to as China’s “Green Capital,” boasting a forest coverage rate of 77.12%. The Yong’an area has capitalized on its rich forest resources to transform into a national hub for collective forest management and modern forestry cooperation across the Taiwan Strait.
Inside the industrial park, a variety of bamboo products such as sofas, coffee tables, and lounge chairs are showcased. One particular item that caught our attention was a U-shaped bamboo board. Wu demonstrated its use in a playful manner, turning it into an impromptu seesaw. “This dynamic bamboo balance board exemplifies the material’s remarkable flexibility, making it possible to have fun physical activities even in smaller spaces,” he said proudly.
Recognized as a leading bamboo center in China, Yong’an has established itself as a national demonstration area for bamboo industry technology. Liu Xiu, executive director of the Yong’an Bamboo Industry Research Institute, shared that the park produces an impressive 600,000 cubic meters of bamboo wooden container bottom plates each year, accounting for over 30% of the global market share. This position has made Yong’an a significant center for advanced bamboo processing in the country.
In recent years, Sanming has seized the opportunity to replace plastic and wood with bamboo, marking the bamboo industry chain as a crucial sector for growth. Local government initiatives have fostered this trend through the implementation of supportive policies, development plans, and high-quality growth frameworks. Such efforts have led to the establishment of production hubs, encouraged forestry machinery use, and nurtured prominent companies like Qing Shan Paper Industry and Fujian Jin Sen. By 2023, the forestry industry in the city achieved an output value exceeding 100 billion yuan, creating jobs for 40,000 farmers, each seeing an average annual income increase of 60,000 yuan.
Our discussion took a turn toward the ecological tourism potential in Mingxi County, situated about 60 kilometers west of Sanming. This area serves as a critical stop for migratory birds along the East Asian-Australasia flyway, boasting exceptional avian diversity. Huang Dao Xing, the village party secretary of Danshang Village, remarked, “On weekends, all 40 guest rooms are fully booked. It’s become nearly impossible for locals to find a place to stay.” The village now features a natural ecological education base that combines bird-watching, forest wellness, leisure tourism, and nature study.
Currently, Mingxi County has five major bird-watching bases and 31 boutique birding sites. This ecotourism initiative has engaged over 1,100 residents in various development activities, attracting over 30,000 birdwatchers annually for eco-tours, green camps, and family-friendly events, all contributing to a unique model of rural revitalization.
Additionally, Sanming has embraced new economic models that integrate “forest wellness” with bird-watching leisure, traditional Chinese medicine treatments, and educational research. The city has established more than 40 provincial-level forest wellness bases, which enable locals to boost their incomes through land leasing and housing rentals, generating approximately 1.9 billion yuan in revenue in 2023. Furthermore, an expansion of 30,800 acres in flower and seedling cultivation has benefitted over 20,000 farmers, resulting in an average income of 27,000 yuan.
On the financial side, Sanming is making significant progress in reforming collective forest rights, focusing on the registration of farm rent and forest land management. The city has issued more than 23 billion yuan in forestry credit, which accounts for about half of the province’s total.
The introduction of a forest ticket reform initiative represents a key development in advancing the local forestry landscape, where forest rights have been quantified into tickets to benefit nearly 80,000 farmers. Furthermore, Sanming has facilitated the first-ever national forestry carbon ticket for cross-regional transactions, demonstrating its commitment to ecological initiatives, with carbon transactions projected to reach around 30 million yuan.
Lastly, partnerships with pharmaceutical companies, such as China Resources Sanjiu, have led to the establishment of cultivation bases for medicinal herbs and other products across a 448,000-acre area, involving nearly 230,000 farmers and generating 17.9 billion yuan in 2023. This innovative economic model is transforming the region’s forest resources into a significant ecological treasure for the community.
