West Meets East

By 250 News

-by Trevor Metz
I was pleasantly surprised the other day when I sat down at my desk to put my daily radio show together when I read a story out of the Central Interior. It appears John Allan and Canada’s Council of Forest Industries is opening shop here in Beijing. That is really positive news. As a reporter I tend to take a negative or at least cynical view of most media announcements, but I am really bullish on this one.

According to the story I read on the air, COFI is trying to develop new architectural technologies and establish standards for energy-saving buildings. The Beijing office will hold training courses; launch joint investigations… don’t know what that means… supply information to China’s building industry on timber building technologies and wood products for building. That is the smartest thing COFI could do if it wants a slice of the worlds fastest growing economy. I think we are actually lagging behind in getting our products in the Chinese market. But, hey, you can catch up unless you get into the race. Kudos to COFI for taking baby steps and trying to broaden the Canadian wood market. Wouldn’t it be nice to not have to rely on our moody cousins to the south?

This venture also has the support of the Chinese government… which is no small feat on its own. Canada Wood has joined hands with a few different Chinese government departments such as the Ministry of Construction. The two are going to look into the potential demand for Canadian wood products and what specific needs the Chinese construction industry has for building with wood. This is really good news.

I have no idea if this is a direct result of the mayor’s trip here earlier this year but whatever the impetus, it’s a good one. I don’t know who deserves credit, but someone does. When the Chinese government puts out a release on a partnership like this, it usually means they are pretty serious and there is genuine interest in developing a market for BC wood. Now that the BC wood industry has it’s foot in the door I hope it can build some momentum and run with it.

I know first hand the demand for a new, affordable, and eco-friendly brand of housing is. I just spend several days in the Southwest of China. This is the real China. I was in the province of Guizhou and it’s capital city of Guiyang. Everyday we would leave the confines of the city and venture out into the mountains, forests, and rice and corn fields. I saw living conditions I thought I would only see in National Geographic. Many of these farmers live in houses with thatched roofs. To call it rustic is a major understatement. 

While I was appalled at the living conditions of many of the farmers, I was genuinely impressed by the government’s efforts to bring these people into the modern era and provide them with decent affordable housing. Nearly one billion Chinese people live in the rural part of the country and if BC wood could even get 10 percent of the pie in the drive to modernize then we won’t need to rely on the Americans anymore.

There is a mountain of work yet to do by organizations like COFI but it’s a climbable mountain. And you know, the industry just might get a boost from the Chinese government in their drive to become a first world country. 

Again, Kudos to COFI.

-Trevor Metz is a Canadian Broadcast Journalist working in Beijing

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