During the conference, Ms. Ling XU, Director of TRAFFIC China, and Ms. Wei SHEN, Deputy Secretary-General of the China Timber and Wood Products Distribution Association (CTWPDA), signed a Memorandum of Cooperation (MoU) on behalf of both organisations. This MoU represents a commitment to foster collaboration, establish a framework based on equality and respect, and actively pursue sustainable trade and investment within the hardwood industry throughout China, Africa, and Southeast Asia.

Under the International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI) project, both organisations will focus on several key areas, including enhancing CTWPDA’s Code of Conduct and its regulations, providing training for CTWPDA’s member companies, conducting association sustainability due diligence and corporate internal audits, verifying the legality of hardwood products, developing social responsibility guidelines for Chinese companies operating in Africa, creating more community forestry development opportunities in overseas investment, and guiding sustainable consumption practices.

In addition, they will work to encourage member companies to participate in government procurement processes that maintain sustainability standards, fostering increased communication opportunities between the Chinese, Vietnamese, and African hardwood industries.

Later this year, TRAFFIC and CTWPDA will jointly organise a delegation to conduct pilot studies on local community development in the Congo Basin countries, with the goal of facilitating a sustainable hardwood trade chain between Chinese enterprises and local communities. These studies will serve as valuable case studies for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).

Linh Nguyen Thuy, Timber Project Officer of TRAFFIC Viet Nam, and Denis Mahonghol, Director of TRAFFIC Central Africa, presented insights into hardwood resources and legal trade in Viet Nam and Africa at the conference. 

CTWPDA also released “China’s Imported Tropical Timber Industry Report – Africa Chapter“, offering insights into the background, risk analysis, trade routes, and usage of tropical timber in China’s market. This report serves as a valuable reference for enterprises involved in African hardwood trading and processing. 

CTWPDA greatly influences the development of China’s hardwood industry and the global trade of forestry products. In the post-COVID era, TRAFFIC remains committed to providing technical support to its member companies, establishing sustainable timber supply chains for the hardwood industry, and promoting the legal and sustainable hardwood trade between source countries and consumer nations.”

Ms. Ling Xu, Director of TRAFFIC China