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Thursday, Nov 29, 2012 7:30 AM UTC

Activists: China at center of illegal timber trade

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Topics: From the Wires,

BEIJING (AP) — An environmental group says China’s voracious demand for wood has put it at the center of the illegal timber trade, causing other countries to strip their forests as Beijing does little to discourage the practices.

In a report released Thursday, the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency says countries as far away as Mozambique and the Solomon Islands as well as Myanmar, Laos and other Chinese neighbors are felling rare hardwoods and other trees at unsustainable rates to fulfill Chinese demand.

The report says that Chinese buyers are undermining international agreements to stop illegal logging and the exports of rare species by making payoffs and using smuggling networks. The report accuses China of exporting deforestation.

Chinese government agencies declined initial comment, saying they had not seen the report.

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