Despite the promotion of fast-growing woodland plantations in China, the steep increase in demand in the past for Hardwood Plywood outstripped the availability of locally-sourced wood, especially following the complete ban on domestic logging of natural forests in China. As a result, Chinese producers have been forced to rely on imports for hardwood veneer logs. Many of these imports come from countries known for their unsustainable practices, deforestation, and forest degradation, or from regions affected by military conflicts that still export conflict timber. Major suppliers of hardwood logs to China include Papua New Guinea, The Solomon Islands, Brazil, and Russia.
 

These supply chains for Chinese Hardwood Plywood are intricate, involving multiple layers of middlemen handling raw materials, intermediaries and traders as well as manufacturers. There have been multiple investigations documenting instances where some Chinese exporters have used forged documents and/or certificates in order to be seen to comply with EU regulations and controls. The articles and links below, all from entities entirely independent and separate from the Greenwood Consortium, provide further insight on Chinese Hardwood Plywood supply chains, including apparent evidence of their association with deforestation document falsification, and customer deception.
 

China has today become the world's largest manufacturer of Hardwood Plywood. Chinese producers understandably expanded their focus to export markets, particularly the EU, following the collapse in domestic demand over recent years. For the past decade, Hardwood Plywood has been the second largest wood product exported from China to the EU, after wooden furniture.