A new roof truss manufacturing facility has opened in Langfang City. That facility is driven by the growing success and demand for wood truss roofing systems in China.

"Building roofs with wood is starting to take off in new regions around China - the Langfang facility is the first of its kind in the Province of Hebei," said Minister of Forests, Mines and Lands Pat Bell . The plant has the capacity to manufacture 400 roofs per year from structure-grade lumber.

Then there was the signing of an agreement with Beijing National Building Materials (BNBM).  The agreement is for BNBM to build a wood-frame building in Beijing with technical support from Canada Wood China.

BNBM is one of China's largest building materials companies and a major manufacturer of prefabricated homes. They build more than 10,000 homes each year.

BNBM is also building a three-storey, wood-frame and concrete "Market Street" building in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province in the Chinese interior. Canada and B.C. are sponsoring the Market Street project with

design support, quality assurance, and lumber materials. It is the final phase of the $8-million earthquake reconstruction program announced in 2008 by Canada and B.C.

The third event was the groundbreaking ceremony for a mid-rise, wood-frame residential building in Tianjin.  "This groundbreaking is one of the most significant developments since we started our China marketing effort seven years ago," said Bell. "The four- to six-storey building segment makes up about 70 per cent of housing construction, and if we can tap into this market it will change the landscape for the B.C. lumber industry.