GUIYANG — In a bustling factory in the city of Chishui, Southwest China's Guizhou province, bamboo poles are transformed into eco-friendly tableware and medical swabs.

"Our bamboo products, free of chemicals and fully biodegradable, are highly recognized by the market," said Wu Qiuhui, manager of the company.

With vast bamboo forests, Chishui is home to over 200 bamboo enterprises producing a wide range of items. The local bamboo industry surpassed 10 billion yuan ($1.44 billion) in output in 2025, boosting incomes for 165,000 bamboo growers.

With the world's richest bamboo resources, China is promoting the plant as a prime alternative to curb plastic pollution. The country launched an initiative in 2022 to use bamboo as a substitute for plastic, followed by a three-year action plan to accelerate its adoption.

"Bamboo matures in three to five years, is highly durable, biodegradable and its carbon sequestration rate is impressive," said Wang Ge, a researcher at the National Forestry and Grassland Administration.

From daily items to industrial materials, China has developed tens of thousands of bamboo-based products.

"International demand for these items is even higher than we expected," noted Wang Jianzhong, a manufacturer whose bamboo tableware is exported globally.

Innovation is key to this green shift. Lenovo, for instance, has adopted bamboo-fiber packaging for its laptops since 2008. "This material is eco-friendly, meets global standards, and reduces shipping emissions," said Bai Yan, the company's packaging research and development director.

It has been revealed that since 2016, the company has introduced lightweight, renewable bamboo fiber packaging, resulting in a reduction of 4,537 metric tons in packaging material usage.

Research projects are expanding bamboo's use into high-tech fields like automotive interiors. One firm in East China's Jiangxi province has successfully created bamboo keyboards and speakers, selling millions of units.

The bamboo sector is now a significant economic force, supporting millions of jobs across China. At present, China has nearly 8 million hectares of bamboo forests, with an average annual bamboo production of 150 million tons. There are over 10,000 bamboo processing enterprises, and the entire industry chain employs more than 29 million people.

The bamboo industry output exceeded 520 billion yuan in 2025, official figures showed.

Experts view bamboo not only as a solution to plastic waste but also as a driver for rural vitalization, adding that with advancing technology and growing demand, China's bamboo industry is poised for a greener future.

Xinhua - China Daily