[Authority] Is the paper industry a sunset industry or a sunrise industry?

More than 60 years ago, the growth rate of China's paper industry kept pace with the development rate of the national economy; However, in the past decade, its growth rate has been much lower than that of GDP. In society, the paper industry is a sunset industry. The following response from the paper-making practitioner is worth praising.

1. The output of paper and paperboard continues to grow steadily

Since the reform and opening up, China's paper industry has continued to develop steadily through the painstaking efforts of paper makers. Especially after entering the new century, the paper industry has entered a period of rapid development. Paper production has increased significantly, surpassing Japan, the United States, and even the entire Europe, ranking first in the world. The output accounts for about a quarter of the world's paper and paperboard output, becoming the largest paper production and consumption country. According to statistics, China's paper and paperboard production in 2017 was 111.3 million tons, nearly double the 64.15 million tons in 2008.

From 2008 to 2017, the output and consumption of paper and paperboard varieties in China have kept a synchronous growth on the whole, and the product varieties have also developed into hundreds of varieties. The quality and technical content of products have significantly improved, which can basically meet the domestic market demand and provide a reliable supply guarantee for social and economic development. With the continuous and stable growth of China's paper industry, it has become the largest driving force for the sustainable development of the global paper industry and driven the development of forestry, equipment, chemical industry, environmental protection and other related industries.

From 2008 to 2017, the structure of China's paper products has also been developing and changing. The demand of China's paper market for various types of packaging and carton paper has driven the development of related products. The proportion of the consumption of paper for packaging and carton in the total consumption of paper and cardboard increased from 61% in 2008 to 64% in 2017. The consumption of culture, education, publicity and office paper decreased from 29% in 2008 to 24% in 2017. The consumption of tissue increased from 6% in 2008 to 8% in 2017. The proportion of paper and paperboard consumption in other ways remained stable.

2. Diversified and large-scale development of paper enterprises

After 40 years of reform and development, great changes have taken place in the enterprise structure of the paper industry. The free competition mechanism has made the capital structure of China's paper industry gradually diversified. Private enterprises and foreign and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan funded enterprises in the paper and paper industry have grown from scratch, and their proportion has kept rising. From 2008 to 2016, the number of state-owned and state-controlled enterprises has decreased from 4.41% to 1.9%, to 96, and the number of private enterprises has increased from 80.0% to 80.5%, It increased to 3939, and the number of foreign-funded and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan funded enterprises increased from 15.59% to 17.5%, reaching 858. In the main business income, the proportion of state-owned and state-controlled enterprises decreased from 17.34% in 2008 to 7%, private enterprises increased from 49.69% to 57.6%, and foreign-funded and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan funded enterprises increased from 32.97% to 35.5.5%. It is obvious from the amount of fixed asset investment of various ownership enterprises that the investment of private holding enterprises has become the absolute main force. From 2008 to 2016, the paper and paper products industry has accumulated 1.81 trillion yuan of new fixed asset investment, including 1.41 trillion yuan invested by private holding enterprises, contributing 78%.

3. Actively promote economic development and increase employment

The continuous growth of the paper industry has strongly driven the economic development. The economic indicators rank about 20 among the 41 industrial sectors, accounting for about 1.5% of the economic contribution. According to the statistics of the National Bureau of Statistics, in 2017, there were about 6681 paper-making and paper products enterprises above designated size in China, 3330 less than 10011 in 2008, with total assets of 1.46 trillion yuan, 96% more than 744.9 billion yuan in 2008, main operating income of 1.52 trillion yuan, 102.6% more than 750.1 billion yuan in 2008, and profits of 102.9 billion yuan, 137% more than 43.5 billion yuan in 2008. Among them, there were 2754 paper-making enterprises above designated size, 744 fewer than 3498 in 2008. The main business income was 921.5 billion yuan, an increase of 113% over 433 billion yuan in 2008. The profit was 66.6 billion yuan, an increase of 217% over 21 billion yuan in 2008..

The paper industry is a process production mode. The continuous production and efficient operation of the paper production line require different levels and technicians to operate and maintain. With the continuous increase of new paper projects, a large number of employment opportunities are provided for the society. In 2008, the number of employees in China's paper and paper products industry was 594000. In 2017, the number of employees increased to 12711000, and 677000 employees were added in the decade. At the same time, the paper industry has a strong correlation with other industries, which fully extends the employment chain. From high-level scientific and technological talents to ordinary technicians, including local rural personnel, they can obtain employment opportunities, effectively relieving the local employment pressure.

4. Remarkable achievements have been made in the transformation and upgrading of the paper industry

In recent years, the paper industry has continued to promote transformation and upgrading and achieved remarkable results. The raw material structure has been continuously optimized, the utilization rate of waste paper has been rapidly improved, wood pulp has gradually occupied the leading position, and the proportion of non wood pulp has been continuously reduced. The product structure has been continuously adjusted, and the proportion of medium and high grade paper and paperboard is about 75%, among which the quality of newsprint, coated paper, cardboard, corrugated base paper, coated paperboard, household paper and other products has reached the international advanced level.

Industrial concentration was further improved. From 2008 to 2022, with the gradual expansion of the production scale of enterprises in China's paper industry, the concentration of enterprises in the industry has been increasing. The increase in the concentration of industrial enterprises provides an effective guarantee for the improvement of resource utilization and environmental governance, and enhances the competitiveness of enterprises.

Significant achievements have been made in reducing emissions of major pollutants. The paper industry continued to carry out environmental governance and shut down key pollution sources. The emission indicators of major pollutants reached the international advanced level and were superior to the European and American emission standards.