China continues to grow very fast, non-wood still the main virgin fibre

China's paper and paperboard production has continued its strong growth, increasing from 56 million tons in 2005 to 65 million tons in 2006, according to China Paper Association. China's pulp imports increased from 7.59 million tons in 2005 to 7.93 million tons in 2006 and the production from 3.37 million to 5.34 million tons. In the some period, nonwood pulp production increased from 12.6 to 12.9 million tons. The paper and paperboard capacity continued to grow strongly, with 4 million tons of new capacity in 2006, compared with the record of 6.2 million tons in 2005. This year, the capacity is expected to increase by an astonishing 7 million tons. Chinas is already a notable exporter of paper and paperboard.