Washington, DC, 6 May 2025 – A new report from Forest Trends reveals that China’s imports of agricultural and timber products were linked to the loss of over 400,000 hectares of tropical forest annually between 2013 and 2022—roughly four million hectares in total—contributing to significant carbon emissions and biodiversity loss in some of the world’s most vulnerable ecosystems.
The report, China’s Tropical Deforestation and Emissions Footprint From Its Agricultural and Timber Imports, estimates that nearly 70 percent of this deforestation was illegal. China’s “embedded emissions” from these imports reached an average of 200 million tons of CO₂ per year—comparable to 20–30 percent of China’s domestic agricultural emissions and over one percent of its total national emissions, which is more emissions than the entire annual fossil fuel emissions of a mid-sized country like Spain.
“While China is a global leader in domestic reforestation and renewable energy, this report highlights a critical blind spot of the environmental cost of its imported agricultural and timber commodities,” says Kerstin Canby, Director of Forest Trends’ Forest Policy, Trade, and Finance Initiative.
A Global Footprint Tied to Key Commodities and Countries
The report finds that four commodities—palm oil, beef, soy, and plantation timber—account for most of the impact. These products are largely sourced from Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, and several West African countries, where deforestation rates remain high and governance challenges persist. Notably, Brazil’s soy and beef exports to China account for nearly one-third of the country’s embedded deforestation emissions.
International Relevance Amid Policy Shifts
The findings come at a critical time, as China positions itself as a champion of “ecological civilization” and renews its commitments under international agreements, such as the Glasgow Leaders’ Declaration on Forests, the China–Brazil Joint Statement on Climate Change, and the 2023 Sunnylands Statement with the United States.
Meanwhile, trading partners are tightening regulations: the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) takes effect in 2024, the US Lacey Act is increasingly used to prosecute illegal forest product imports, and the UK Environment Act is targeting supply chains linked to illegal deforestation. These developments place pressure on Chinese companies and policymakers to demonstrate sustainable sourcing practices—or risk trade barriers and reputational damage.
“China faces a strategic choice between proactively leading on sustainable sourcing or risking falling behind as global markets shift toward legal and deforestation-free commodities,” says Michael Richards, the report’s lead author. “There are clear opportunities to act, including working with a handful of companies and geographies responsible for most of the impact.”
Momentum for Change—But More Is Needed
Encouragingly, some progress has already begun. The Tropical Forest Alliance Taskforce on Green Value Chains for China, launched in 2023, has brought together major companies like COFCO, Mengniu Dairy, Nestlé, and Cargill. In 2024, the first deforestation-free soybean shipment from Brazil to China was completed under this initiative.
However, as the report notes, scaling up these efforts will require more robust regulatory frameworks, supply chain transparency, and cross-border collaboration—including stronger engagement from Chinese industry and enforcement by producing countries.
Download the report, China’s Tropical Deforestation and Emissions Footprint From Its Agricultural and Timber Imports.
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Forest Trends works to conserve forests and other ecosystems through the creation and wide adoption of a broad range of environmental finance, markets, and other payment and incentive mechanisms.
Forest Trends’ Forest Policy, Trade, and Finance Initiative aims to promote policies which harness the power of market incentives for the legal, sustainable, and equitable trade in timber and other commodities harvested from forest landscapes.