"The Chinese government consistently upholds and puts in practice collective international responsibility, opposing and cracking down on illegal logging in illegal wood imports," Cao said. "We have very strict import controls."
A report issued in March by the Centre for International Forestry Research and other groups found about 70 percent of all timber imported into China, now the largest consumer of wood from tropical developing countries, was converted into furniture, plywood and other processed products for export.
China accounted for over half the log exports from Papua New Guinea, Myanmar and Indonesia, the report said.
