Kunming, China--Yunnan Province aims to mark 100 years of rubber cultivation during September, with celebrations and a TV programme. One of the 8000 trees planted in 1904 in the Yingjiang County of Southwest China is still alive, the first batch of trees to be planted in the peoples' Republic.
China has around 661 000 ha under rubber, and produced 565 000 tonnes of rubber in 2003, but imported a further 1.1 million tonnes, making it the world's biggest consumer of natural rubber. The country's rapid increase in auto production is said to have resulted in a 40 percent annual growth in demand for natural rubber.
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China Daiily (China) story
