From Xinhua, via China Daily: "China has an average of 8.7 million hectares of forests ravaged by plant diseases and insect pests every year, incurring losses of 88 billion yuan (US$10.6 billion), according to a senior forestry official.
Global warming, frequent foul weather and closer international economic and trade ties have conspired toward aggravating plant diseases and insects in China's forests over the past few years, said Zhu Lieke, deputy head of the State Forestry Administration. "