China's natural rubber demand will increase 10 to 20 percent annually in the coming years, said an expert at a seminar held on Friday.

Chen Kexin, senior economist with the China Logistic Information Center, said that the development of China's manufacturing industry, especially booming tire producing industry, will drive the demand of natural rubber to a new high.

In the first seven months of this year, the country produced 13,037 tires, up 17.9 percent over the same period of last year.

Chen predicted that China will consume 1.7 million tons of natural rubber this year, 1.2 million tons of which will be imported.

China has become the largest natural rubber importer and consumer since 2001. In 2003, China's consumed 1.8 million tons of natural rubber and produced 500,000 tons.

Hainan is now the largest rubber production base in China, planting 380,000 hectares of rubber trees. Experts predicted that the gap between the demand and supply will stimulate local farmers to plant more rubber trees.

The central government has placed great importance on the natural rubber industry. Since 1950s, the country has invested a total of 4.47 billion yuan in building a 200,000 hectare of natural rubber plantation in Hainan State Farm.

To further pace up the development of the industry, the state farm has decided to set up a shareholding company and plans to list the company in stock market in three years. In addition, a tide of merge is sweeping among the nearly 100 natural rubber processing companies in the state farm. According to plan, these companies will be merged to 13 large ones by 2006.

(Xinhua News Agency September 10, 2004)