From China Daily via China Net:

China has strengthened efforts to crack down on illegal logging and timber trading, the State Forestry Administration (SFA) said yesterday.

Its spokesman Cao Qingyao denied accusations of China plundering the world’s rainforests to meet its booming demand for wood. “The statement concerning the question that China’s large demand for timber results in illegal logging and smuggling from Asia is groundless,” Cao said at a news conference. [Full Text]